Category: Estonia

Pohla & Hallmagi has advised the KindlustusEst insurance broker on the sale of its commercial client portfolio to the Estonian office of global insurance broker Howden. Ellex advised Howden.

KindlustusEst describes itself as the second-biggest insurance broker company in the Baltics based on domestic capital.

Howden is an international insurance broker operating in 50 countries, employing 15,000 people, and handling USD 35 billion on behalf of clients.

The Pohla & Hallmagi team was led by Partner Toivo Viilup.

The Ellex team included Partners Risto Vahimets and Martin Maesalu, Senior Associate Meree Punab, and Lawyer Carmen Linda Plats.

Rask has advised Estonia-based fintech start-up Bilance on raising a EUR 300,000 investment in a round featuring Specialist VC.

Bilance is a company aiming to “help people make better financial decisions.” The company develops and operates an app that tracks expenses and offers an overview of one-time purchases and recurring payments to help people manage their budgets.

“This is an important step for the company, not only for international growth, but also to expand the technical team, allowing for continued innovation and service improvement,” Rask announced. “Inflation, rising interest rates, and taxes have forced people to look for ways to manage their money better. According to Specialist VC Partner Kaspar Hanni, the value of Bilance has become especially clear in today’s economic environment, where the application that simplifies the personal financial overview is becoming more and more important.”

According to Rask, lack of financial literacy is a problem in Estonia and beyond. “Bilance is actively trying to solve this very problem by providing users with an AI-powered mobile application. This app automatically tracks spending habits and helps users take steps to improve them. The Bilance application is securely compatible with over 1,000 banks across Europe, including all major banks in Estonia.”

The Rask team was led by Partner Timo Kullerkupp.

TGS Baltic has advised the SmartCap Estonian state fund on its investment in the EUR 4 million seed round of local deep-tech start-up Up Catalyst. German climate technology fund Extantia led the round which included existing investors Sunly, Little Green Fund, Scottish Baltic Invest, and UniTartu Ventures.

Up Catalyst develops technology that can turn carbon dioxide into graphite and other carbon materials, TGS Baltic reported. With the funding, the company will build an industrial pilot reactor capable of processing 100 tons of carbon dioxide annually and producing 27 tons of carbon materials, making Up Catalyst the largest provider of green graphite in the world.

According to TGS Baltic, the transaction was structured partly in a convertible loan agreement, and partly in pure direct equity investment.

SmartCap is a fund manager registered with the Estonian FSA and a subsidiary of the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency.

The TGS Baltic team was led by Partner Kadri Kallas and Senior Associate Mirko Kikkamagi and included Associate Partner Triinu Jarviste and Lawyer Grete Kruustuk.

In a move scheduled to start in February, TGS Baltic is welcoming aboard a significant team of lawyers from PwC Legal Estonia.

As a result of this move, TGS Baltic announced the combined team will “grow to 80 people, making it one of the largest law firms in Estonia.”

According to TGS Baltic, “PwC and PwC Legal have jointly decided to separate the legal firm PwC from the network due to a significant increase in demand for litigation services, which, in connection with PwC’s broad client base, increased the potential for conflicts of interest. In order to avoid such risks, PwC will in the future focus on providing legal services on consulting that supports its main areas of activity, but will exit the disputes business and thereby also cease operations as a full-service law firm.”

“The separation of the legal firm will not impact PwC’s core services, which include audit, business consulting in transactions, taxation, accounting, and the ESG sphere,” commented PwC Estonia Managing Partner Teet Tender. “Our relationship with the lawyers from PwC joining TGS Baltic remains very good, and we will continue to collaborate in the future.”

“Rapid technological development and the intertwining of various subject areas make the modern legal landscape increasingly specialized,” TGS Baltic Managing Partner Sander Karson added. “Understandably, client expectations are growing in terms of the volume and detail of legal services and, by expanding our capabilities, we can better meet those expectations.”

“The experience and competence gained from PwC Legal in advising clients in collaboration with external experts create a good foundation for solving increasingly complex and cross-border issues in clients’ businesses,” PwC Legal Managing Partner Karin Marosov said. “The combined team provides sufficient resources to serve clients quickly and by top experts in their field, ensuring a balance between the work and personal lives of lawyers. Increased revenue and efficiency also give us the opportunity to support important community and charity initiatives.”

Lextal has advised Solbritt on its reorganization and restructuring plan.

AS Solbritt is a dairy production company whose factory has operated for 85 years. In 2005, they partnered with the Nutritec dairy group to mainly produce Nutrilak powdered milk blends under the trademark Nuppi.

According to the firm, “Solbritt filed for reorganization last year, and the procedure started on October 12, 2023 […] The Tartu County Court approved Solbritt’s restructuring plan, which the creditors unanimously adopted […] Approval of the plan will allow the company to continue trading and pay off the debts incurred during the crisis period according to a schedule satisfactory to the company and its creditors.”

The Lextal team was led by Attorney at Law Ksenia Kravtsenko.

Pohla & Hallmagi has advised Restate on its sale of 5.5 hectares of development land in a logistics park near Tallinn to AS Schenker. Ellex advised Schenker.

Restate is an Estonian real estate company.

AS Schenker is a logistics and supply chain company, part of the Deutsche Bahn’s DB Schenker network.

The Pohla & Hallmagi team included Partner Toivo Viilup.

The Ellex team included Partner Ermo Kosk, Counsel Triin Frosch, and Senior Associate Kaisa Jakobsoo.

Lextal has advised Estonian metaverse avatar platform company Ready Player Me on signing partnership agreements with the Warner Music Group, the Universal Music Group’s Bravado, Rovio’s Angry Birds, McLaren Racing, and the operator of ITV’s The Voice, among others, allowing users to buy new virtual items for their avatars.

According to the firm, Ready Player Me provides a platform for computer program developers and users to create avatars. A person logs on to the Ready Player Me platform, takes a picture of their face, and receives a virtual avatar of themselves. Avatars are created using photorealistic 3D technology, reflecting the person’s facial features and appearance as accurately as possible. Users can personalize their avatars by adding clothing, accessories, and other gadgets. The avatars created can then be used on thousands of different platforms and sites.

The newly signed agreements expand avatar customization options with “new virtual items, accessories, skins, and other exciting things these companies offer to accompany their avatars. For example, a virtual t-shirt with the McLaren logo, an Angry Birds bird avatar, a virtual blouse with the Universal Music artist logo, and more. The collaboration with these well-known brands aims to promote the personalization of avatars and increase revenues for the platforms,” Lextal reported.

The Lextal team was led by Attorney at Law Henri Ratnik and included Partner Rauno Kinkar and Attorney Dan-Erik Roosve.

Ellex Raidla has advised R8 Technologies on closing its 2023 investment round with the Panasonic Corporation, Encevo, and Moller Eiendom.

According to Ellex, R8 Technologies is a growing European tech company that offers a human-centric AI-powered solution – R8 Digital Operator Jenny – to help achieve climate-neutral real estate. The data-driven artificial intelligence solution helps achieve sustainable building management by improving the efficiency of real estate operations and reducing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

Panasonic is a Japanese multinational electronics company.

Encevo is a sustainable energy company based in Luxembourg.

Moller Eiendom is a real estate developer based in Oslo, Norway.

The Ellex team included Partners Antti Perli and Risto Vahimets and Senior Associate Alla Kuznetsova.

Pohla & Hallmagi has advised Esteve on its acquisition of a Type LHM 550 Liebherr harbor mobile crane from Liebherr-MCCtec Rostock.

Esteve is a port operator in the Paldiski South Harbor, Estonia.

Liebherr is a German-Swiss multinational equipment manufacturer based in Bulle, Switzerland, with its main production facilities and origins in Germany.

The Pohla & Hallmagi team included Partner Toivo Viilup.

Pohla & Hallmagi, working with Am Wall Rechtsanwaelte, has advised CF&S Estonia and CF&S Germany on the Acquisition of DAKO Worldwide Transport. The German offices of McDermott Will & Emery reportedly advised the sellers.

CF&S provides road, railway, sea, and air transport solutions.

DAKO Worldwide Transport is an international freight forwarder headquartered in Duesseldorf.

The Pohla & Hallmagi team included Partner Toivo Viilup.