On 18 October the winners of the Baltic M&A and Private Equity Awards will be announced as part of the Baltic M&A and Private Equity Forum 2018. This is already the fifth year that we are celebrating the achievements of the Baltic M&A industry. The awards cover three traditional categories: the Baltic M&A Deal of the Year 2018; the Baltic Private Equity/Venture Capital Deal of the Year 2018; and the Outbound Deal from the Baltics 2018 Award. In addition, this year we are presenting an ad hoc category of ‘Baltic Public Offering of the Year 2018’ to mark an exceptionally busy year of public offerings of shares by the Baltic companies.

The M&A, private equity and venture capital transactions of the year are selected by a committee consisting of market professionals and experts. The committee selects the winning deals according to criteria such as deal value and strategic importance to the Baltic region, complexity, innovation, financing structure, and involvement of regional representatives.

All eligible transactions should have been completed within the past 12 months. Therefore, the nominees do not include some of the announced major transactions that are not completed yet, such as proposed acquisition of Luminor Bank by Blackstone and acquisition of Nelja Energia by Eesti Energia. However, the committee may supplement the list of nominees if a major transaction is completed prior to the selection of winner.

Members of the 2018 Awards Committee are:

• Dace Silava-Tomsone, Managing Partner of Cobalt Latvia
• Enn Listra, Dean, professor of Finance and Banking at Tallinn University
• Jānis Janevics, Partner at Imprimatur Capital
• Jūratė Majauskienė, Associate Partner at Summa Advisers
• Kristiina Koort, Managing Director, Estonian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association
• Vytautas Plunksnis, Head of Private Equity at INVL Asset Management

Nominees for the Baltic M&A Deal of the Year 2018:

• Ermitazas UAB’s acquisition of Bauhof Group AS
  • deal value EUR 35 million
  • continued bold expansion of the buyer’s group in the Baltics;
  • combination of Lithuanian and Estonian retail chains to offer a wider range of products in both countries
• Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation Technology Co., Ltd.’s acquisition of Magnetic MRO AS
  • deal value EUR 43.17 million
  • investment by a Chinese industry player that provides an opportunity for a Baltic company to expand into Asia
  • successful exit by BaltCap from private equity investment after supporting company growth from a small regional player to a profitable  global company
• Vienna Insurance Group AG’s acquisition of Seesam Insurance AS
  • target operates throughout the Baltics and is a significant market player in non-life insurance  
  • continued expansion of the Austrian group in the Baltics

Nominees for the Baltic Private Equity / Venture Capital Deal of the Year 2018:

• Groglass MBO backed by Kartesia
  • bold MBO with over 50 MEUR financing by Kartesia
  • opportunity for a Latvia-based innovative manufacturer to expand into new markets
• Taxify fundraising from DiDi Chuxing and consortium led by Daimler AG.
  • fundraising value of EUR 151 million in total
  • valuation of the Estonia-based start-up at USD 1 billion, making Taxify a unicorn
  • venture capital investments by strategic groups DiDi and Daimler that support the fast-paced growth of the company
• Providence Equity Partners’ acquisition of Modern Times Group MTG AB Baltic operations (Viasat, TV3, TV3+, TV6, etc).
  • largest transaction in the media sector with deal value of EUR 115 million
  • expansion of the Baltic presence of a major international private equity group

Nominees for the Outbound Deal from the Baltics 2018:

• Euroapotheca UAB’s acquisition of Apoteksgruppen in Sweden.
  • large deal value
  • acquisition of 156 privately owned Apoteksgruppen pharmacies
  • Euroapotheca will become the fourth largest player in the Swedish pharmacy retail market with market share of approx 9% and unite a pharmacy network of more than 600 pharmacies
• Maxima Grupe UAB’s acquisition of Emperia Holding SA in Poland
  • deal value EUR 258 million
  • acquisition of Polish retailer and wholesaler of food products, cosmetics and household chemical products
  • expansion of VP Group in the Polish market
• Hansapost OÜ’s acquisition of 46% stake in Hobby Hall Oy in Finland
  • acquisition and strategic alliance with leading Finnish mail order, online and store retailer
  • Hansapost and Hobby Hall’s combined revenue EUR 80 million and 225 employees

Nominees for the Baltic Public Offering of the Year 2018

• Madara IPO
  • listing on the Nasdaq First North market in Riga
  • demand for shares 2.3 times higher than number of shares offered
• Novaturas IPO
  • dual listing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and Nasdaq in Vilnius
  • total value of offering EUR 22.1 million
• Tallinn Port IPO
  • listing on Nasdaq in Tallinn
  • total value of offering 147.4 million
  • the first state-owned company listing in Estonia in almost 20 years
  • the first IPO of a major state-owned transport infrastructure asset in the Baltics
• Auga Group SPO
  • EUR 36 million capital raising, led by EBRD and Lithuanian entrepreneurs