Category: News

Ingman Development OY, a subsidiary of Ingman Group OY Ab, acquired 45% of the investment firm Masa Kapital OÜ. Masa Kapital holds a 100% stake in the Hagar bakery and Nedholm Design, a manufacturer of wooden interior design items.

Avo Kaasik, who used to be the sole shareholder of Masa Kapital before the transaction, noted that Ingman Group is a highly recognised and valued investor with long-term experience in the food industry with whom he plans to develop the existing companies and make further investments in the future.

“Estonia offers a good investment climate and many investment opportunities”, said Peter Ingman when commenting on the reasons for the investment and added that in Avo Kaasik and Masa Kapital they now have a local partner for expanding their current portfolio companies and for making new investments in the Baltic region.

2015

The Lawyer, one of the most influential European law publications, aarded “The law firm of the year: The Baltics 2015” to law firm Tark Grunte Sutkiene. The internationally recognised award was granted to Tark Grunte Sutkiene for successful participation in the major transactions in the region last year.
‘The Lawyer’s award is the acknowledgement of our firm’s vision, long-term strategic objectives and the professionalism of the team by the international legal community. We are convinced that lawyers must be not only legal experts – our skills to help to achieve objectives and find solutions in the best interests of the client create real added value for clients’, Eugenija Sutkienė said.

Aare Tark added: ‘The award is clear signal about our outstanding position in the Baltic legal market. This great recognition was gained for truly focusing on what is important for the client’s business and delivering a complete solution with the highest standards and uncompromised quality.’
The Lawyer assessed the law firm’s lasting achievements and professional experience in administrating bankrupt banks in Lithuania (Ūkio bankas) and Latvia (AS Latvijas Krājbanka) and developing large-scale projects of national importance, such as the construction of the liquefied natural gas terminal in Klaipėda and other significant projects.

Since 1990, Tark Grunte Sutkiene has been advising on the majority of the largest and most significant transactions in the Baltic region; the firm participated in developing and implementing 16 out of 20 important national projects in the Baltic States and currently represents Lithuania in international arbitration against Gazprom. The firm has been advising many landmark projects in Estonia, e.g. on the acquisition of Hansapank by Swedbank, the largest M&A transaction in the Baltics.
In 2010-2014, the law firm implemented over 100 large corporate mergers and acquisition transactions worth over EUR 3 billion. Today the law firm is one of the most experienced Baltic law firms in business law.

Prestigious law publication The Lawyer selects “The law firm of the year” in 25 categories throughout Europe. Tark Grunte Sutkiene was nominated “Best European Law Firm” for the first time in the history of the Baltic States. The awards panel composed of managing partners of international law firms and counsels of multinational companies chooses the winners. Key selection criteria are strategic vision, deep partnership relationship, strong financial situation and its improvement, perpetual impeccable results in the selected sectors, and excellent talent management.

TARK advised Askembla Growth Fund on the sale of its entire shareholding in Bauhof Group AS and My Fitness AS to MyInvest Estonia OÜ.

The Stockholm-based private equity fund Askembla Growth Fund decided to sell its holdings in different companies in the Baltic States. The shares were bought by MyInvest Estonia OÜ, a company founded by the current shareholders and managers of Bauhof and MyFitness as well as advisors to the transaction. The deal was financed by SEB Estonia.

Martti Talgre, Head of Corporate Clients Department at SEB, said to the business daily Äripäev that the transaction shows the confidence of Estonian businesses in the positive outlook for Estonian economy.

The sales of the Bauhof group amounted to €98m in 2012. The retail chain sells construction materials and gardening goods in twelve stores in Estonia and employs more than 400 people. In addition, Bauhof has five stores in Lithuania.
My Fitness AS owns a chain of eight fitness clubs in Estonia with more than 11,000 active members.

2015

TARK advised ACTA, the holding company of Kiwa and Shield Group International, on the acquisition of Inspecta in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Inspecta is the leading Nordic player in the testing, inspection and certification (TIC) industry with operations in 8 countries.

2014

E24 business portal published recently a list of the key company purchase transactions in Estonia in 2013. Half of the six key transactions were advised on by TARK. Among others, TARK advised on the sale of shares in Starman to East Capital, which is the most important deal of the year both in terms of the value of the transaction and its international scope.

TARK also acted as advisor on the sale of Bauhof and My Fitness by Askembla Growth Fund to Estonian investors and on the sale of Sportland to Sports Direct. All transactions were among the six key transactions in Estonia in 2013.

2015

TARK advised AS Sarkop, an Estonian producer of high-quality furniture, in a production facilities sale-leaseback transaction and in implementing new financing solutions. AS Sarkop is one of the largest custom furniture producers fully based on Estonian capital. It produces top quality furniture for offices, restaurants, hotels and ships. AS Sarkop was advised by TARK partner Risto Vahimets and senior associate Allar Aru.

2014

Recently, TARK competition team advised MTG, an international entertainment broadcasting group, in all competition / regulatory aspects of its bid to buy a majority stake in Starman, the largest supplier of Pay-Tv (cable and DTH platforms) and 2nd largest provider of broadband internet in Estonia.
The regulatory assessment was a crucial part of the bid, because MTG is already active in the

Estonian Pay-Tv market (via its satellite Viasat platform) and also in the upstream markets of wholesale supply of commercial-FTA (TV3) and premium TV channels (TV1000) to other Pay-Tv operators (including Starman, Elion, STV). Thus: adding Starman to MTG’s existing Estonian business raised a number of potential competition issues, which needed to be identified, quantified and addressed.

As part of the regulatory assessment we: (a) identified alternative market definitions and the likelihood of each of those market definitions being adopted by Estonian Competition Authority; (b) identified, and quantified, potential competition issues (both horizontal and vertical) and identified and quantified potential solutions for each issue; and then (b) developed Base Case and Negative Case scenarios with competition issues and potential solutions with business case impact and probability attached to both, i.e. developed a Road Map of the prospective merger review process.

2015

On 13 April, OÜ Selteret (Estonia) announced having signed a contract for acquiring a 100% stake in AS Schetelig EV (Estonia). The Latvian and Lithuanian subsidiaries of AS Schetelig EV are also parties to the transaction. The deal will be closed in May 2015; the parties have agreed not to disclose the value of the transaction.

“The acquisition of AS Schetelig EV group marks the most significant step in our history – by this deal we will strengthen our position in Estonia and enter the Latvian and Lithuanian markets. We believe that the transaction will create powerful synergies which allow us to offer added value to our customers, suppliers and partners.” Karol Kõrm, the managing director of OÜ Selteret, commented.

AS Schetelig EV is part of the Schetelig Group selling garden products and supplies for both professional and home use in Finland, the Baltics, Slovakia, Hungary, the Check Republic, Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. OÜ Selteret is a family business that has been present on the Estonian market since 1995.

2014

TARK advised Enterprise Investors, one of the largest private equity and venture capital firms in Central and Eastern Europe, on acquisition of 32.4% stake in Tahe Outdoors.
The Firm assisted the investor with the due diligence review of Tahe group, structuring the transaction as well as preparation and negotiating the transaction documents.

The transaction was fascinating both because it was the second investment in Estonia by this CEE private equity giant, and because of the very specific industry of the target – one of the Europe’s largest producers of kayaking equipment, headquartered in Estonia.

Tahe Outdoors is the leading European manufacturer and distributor of high quality watersports equipment, headquartered in Estonia. The company operates two factories in Estonia and one in France, and its sales network covers over 35 countries.