Category: Latvia

Fort’s Riga office has advised the venture capital fund ZGI-3 on its EUR 700,000 investment in Mobilly, a payment service provider in Latvia, which the firm describes as the largest FinTech investment of the year in the country.

Mobilly announced on October 21, 2016, that it succeeded in attracting large scale investment of EUR 1.1 million, including the EUR 700,000 from ZGI-3.

Fort reports that it “advised venture capital fund ZGI-3 in all phases of the transaction, including conducting due diligence, as well as drafting and negotiating all the investment documents.”

The Fort team was led by Associate Partner Ramona Miglane in Latvia and included Partner Ieva Judinska-Bandeniece, Associated Partner Uldis Judinskis, and Senior Associate Edgars Turlajs.

Eversheds Bitans has advised Scorpio Services Holding Limited on its acquisition of a 60% stake in SIA Astor Shipmanagement, a Latvia-based company providing crewing services for different types of vessels world-wide. The identity of the seller was not disclosed.

The U.S.-based Scorpio Services Holding Limited provides administrative services including accounting, legal compliance, financial, and information technology services. Moreover, through its subsidiaries, the company provides technical and commercial vessel management services. 

The Eversheds Bitans team advising Scorpio Services Holding Limited over the span of negotiation and execution of the entire 2-year transaction was led by Consultant Mikus Freimanis and Lawyer Elina Vilde. Mikus Freimanis commented: “We are delighted that we were able to successfully close this deal. Taking part in protracted negotiations and dealing with execution of an important transaction such as this from day one to completion has been a great honor and, simultaneously, a challenge. We were privileged to have an opportunity to work together with a team of experienced and highly regarded managers of Scorpio who have decided to acquire a majority stake in a Latvian crewing service provider. We would like to wish the best of luck and success to the new shareholder and the company in achieving their business objectives.”

Glimstedt has reported that it advised Plaza Centers and the New York-registered New Century Holding investment fund on their September, 2016 sale of the Riga Plaza shopping and entertainment center in Riga to an unnamed global investment fund. The transaction value was EUR 93.4 million.

The transaction was structured as a transfer of business, and Glimstedt reports that work on the project lasted nearly a year.  The firm has advised Riga Plaza since construction on the shopping center started in 2007. 

The Glimstedt team was led by Partner Ivars Pommers, supported by Inita Jurka, the head of the firm’s real estate practice group.

Glimstedt did not reply to our inquiry about the identity of the buyer or its legal counsel on the transaction.

Image Source: liveriga.com

Eversheds Bitans has advised Clear Energy Holdings S.A. on the sale of an approximately 50.04% stake in NewFuels RSEZ SIA, the largest producer of wood pellets in Latvia, to Andreas Tserni, who now owns 100% of the company’s shares. The buyer was advised by sole practitioner Timurs Siks.

Eversheds describes NewFuels RSEZ as producing “ecologically clean and economically reasonable source of energy using the forestry residues in its production,” and says that the company “is currently the largest producer of wood pellets in Latvia with a production capacity of circa 240,000 metric tons per annum.”

According to Eversheds Bitans, “the transaction involved multiple interconnected steps, including the termination of the existing joint-venture relationships, refinancing of the bank credit facility, as well as repayment of shareholders’ loans provided by Clear Energy Holdings S.A. over its 5-year investment period.”

The Eversheds team was led by Senior Partner Maris Vainovskis and Associate Toms Purins. Vainovskis commented: “It has been an honor for our team to take part in the whole Clear Energy Holdings investment process from the very start to finish and to work together with such a highly experienced and successful managers who have helped NewFuels RSEZ to achieve such rapid growth. We wish the very best of luck and business success to the new shareholders of NewFuels RSEZ SIA and hope the company will continue to grow at a fast pace.”

The original developer and owner of the NewFuels RSEZ SIA pellet plant since 2011, Graham Bell — now a Director of Clear Energy Holdings — noted: “We have been very pleased with our investment in a major wood pellet facility in Rezekne, Latvia, over the past 5 years. The company’s success could not have been achieved without the assistance and dedication of all the company’s staff, all of whom we wish to thank and wish well for the future. We are confident that Mr. Tserni’s acquisition of NewFuels and his exciting plans for further investment will enable continued expansion and development of this significant business.”

Sorainen has provided legal assistance to reputation management company Lejina & Sleiers while it organized the “Silicon Valley Comes to the Baltics” technology start-up conference.

According to Sorainen, “the conference was based on a franchise developed by a Lithuanian company, so that Sorainen assisted Lejina & Sleiers in concluding a franchise agreement and cooperation agreements with third parties necessary for organizing the conference.”

Sorainen also assisted Lejina & Sleiers in organizing another upcoming conference, the “Digital Freedom Festival,” covering tech, start-ups, policy makers, and lifestyle. Sorainen advised on intellectual property-related issues, including applying to register “Digital Freedom Festival” as a trade mark.

The Sorainen team advising Lejina & Sleiers consisted of Partner Eva Berlaus, Senior Associate Andris Taurins, and Associate Linda Reneslace.

Sorainen has advised Baltic Horizon, an investment manager focusing on specialized real asset investment strategies in Northern Europe, in signing a purchase agreement to acquire an office building in Riga from German developer Bauplan Nord, which was advised by bnt. Closing is expected to be finalized during the third quarter of 2016.

This is the second of Baltic Horizon’s deals following its listing on Nasdaq Tallinn in July, and the second object in the portfolio located in Latvia’s capital. Post-closing, Baltic Horizon’s portfolio will consist of seven objects worth over EUR 125 million. 

Upmalas Biroji was constructed in 2008 by Bauplan Nord. The net leasable area is over 10,500 square meters. 

“We are very satisfied to be able to complete another attractive office acquisition after the initial public offering with strong tenants and are now looking forward in the coming months to declaring the first dividend in the history of the listed Baltic Horizon Fund,” said Tarmo Karotam, the Baltic Horizon fund manager. “Additionally, this acquisition works very well from the diversification and risk management point of view, both geographically and segment wise.”

Sorainen’s team was led by Partner Eva Berlaus included Senior Associates Aija Lasmane and Janis Bite and Associate Jorens Jaunozols.

BNT did not reply to our inquiry about its work on the matter.

Image Source: upmalasbiroji.lv

Sorainen has assisted Oberthur Technologies Latvia with various employment law matters, including updating employment contracts, drafting employment termination documents, and representing the company in court against a former employee’s claim for payment of compensation for complying with an alleged non-compete obligation after termination of employment.

Oberthur Technologies is a French secure technology company, providing digital security solutions for smart transactions, mobile financial services, machine-to-machine, digital identity, and transport and access control.

The Sorainen team is led by Partner Eva Berlaus and Senior Associate Andis Burkevics.

Hedman Partners has announced that it was chosen by B2B tech accelerator Startup Wise Guys to provide legal advice on expanding the company’s operations into Latvia.

Startup Wise Guys was founded by Estonian private investors with a focus on investing in start-up companies with high potential in the technology sector. The investment firm has launched an accelerator program for discovering appropriate investment opportunities, and the program’s six cycles have thus far yielded investments into 52 companies around the world. According to Hedman Partners, “Riga will be the next port of call for the leading accelerator program in the CEE region, in partnership with Lattelecom.”

Tark Grunte Sutkiene has represented the investment brokerage firm Amenda Markets AS IBS, licensed in Latvia, on its successful application for authorization from the Financial and Capital Market Commission to provide investment services and collateral services in the European Union and the European Economic Area.

The license will allow Amenda Markets to expand its activities and provide forex services in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Estonia, Italy, Lithuania, Lichtenstein, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Finland, Spain, Germany, and Sweden. 

Tark Grunte Sutkiene’s team in Latvia was led by Senior Associate Alise Eljasane. 

Eversheds Bitans has provided legal support to the Nordic and Baltic high-tech manufacturing company AS HansaMatrix on its private placement and associated equity fund raise and subsequent listing on the Baltic Main List of Nasdaq Riga Stock Exchange. Eversheds Bitans describes the listing as “a breakthrough in equity listings in Latvia as it is the first Nasdaq Main List addition since 2004.”

According to Eversheds Bitans, “HansaMatrix is an innovator and integrated solution high-tech group, representing a leading Nordic and Baltic electronic system development and manufacturing enterprise. It carries a diversified base of customers and products ranging from high-end internet routers for data centers through to the Internet of Things and other industrial applications.”

The share listing of HansaMatrix commenced July 12, 2016 and came after the company’s recent private placement of both primary and secondary shares to various investors, including certain Baltic pension funds, held during the month of June 2016. Existing investor FlyCap Investment Fund I AIF also participated and it now has a higher post-transaction shareholding percentage in the company. All the shares are listed on the Nasdaq Baltic Main List.     

The sole global co-ordinator and book runner of the transaction was AS LHV Pank, the largest domestic financial group and capital provider in Estonia.     

Mikus Freimanis, the Capital Markets Consultant of Eversheds Bitans, commented: “We are delighted that a new issue of shares has finally joined the Baltic Main List of Nasdaq Riga since 2004. We are proud of Mr. Osmanis and company HansaMatrix which, despite of a challenging process requiring significant commitment on the part of the management, were able to achieve the remarkable result of having listed a Latvian company. We believe that this will set an important precedent for other Latvian businesses looking for growth and attainment of their strategic plans. We hope that other businesses will follow suit and will consider the possibility of raising capital through equity capital markets, as an alternative to the prevailing model of debt financing.“     

HansaMatrix’s CEO Ilmars Osmanis noted that: “This is one of those defining moments full of pride and excitement that I will cherish, after having founded this company over 15 years ago. The fact that the company is now listed and has access to public capital markets creates increased visibility and broadens the spectrum of development opportunities  available to the business. Our advisers, Eversheds Bitans and LHV, have accumulated significant expertise in the area of capital markets. Strong teamwork and the choice of competent advisors were instrumental to our ability to attain these results.”