Blog

2014

Rudus AS and Talot AS completed a transaction where Talot acquired the concrete products business of Rudus. In the course of the transaction, Talot acquired the entire Rudus’ concrete products business in Lagedi along with employees, production equipment, knowhow, contracts and property. Rudus will focus on the production and sale of ready-mixed concrete and granite gravel. The member of the management board of Rudus, Toomas Vainola, said that they were very pleased about this deal: “The other party to the transaction is a well-known and trustworthy Estonian manufacturer of construction materials who will continue our decades-long work. We believe that all clients will benefit from the created synergies and experience.”

Rudus was founded in 1994 based on the capital of the Finnish company Oy Rudus AB with the aim of offering high-quality concrete and granite gravel to the Estonian construction sector. From 1999, Rudus is part of the CRH plc group registered in Ireland. In 2013, the sales revenue of Rudus amounted to 26.7 million euros, of which the sale of concrete and concrete products constituted 57%.

Talot is a producer of construction materials based on Estonian capital and having more than 25 years of experience. Its products include concrete products, prefabricated concrete elements and ready-mixed concrete. In 2013, the sales revenue of Talot was 10.7 million euros.

2015

Yesterday, on 29 June, the owners of Eesti Telekom, one of the largest telecommunication companies in the Baltics, signed a contract for the purchase of the rapidly developing IT company Green IT. The transaction will be closed after receiving clearance from the Estonian Competition Authority. After closing, Green IT will continue its activities as separate company under the current trademark.

“Eesti Telekom has been a great competitor of Green IT for years. As the IT market is becoming more and more service focused, it is important to keep investing in the development of services and to increase the volume of business. The consolidation on the market is only natural in this situation,” the managing director of Green IT, Margo Luberg, commented on the deal.

Green IT, established in 2006, is a rapidly growing IT company based on Estonian capital with the Baltic States as their home market. As of the end of 2014, they managed more than 60,000 IT devices with a total value of over 10 million euros. Green IT has a total of 150 customers from both the private and public sector.

2015

We advised two clients – Flora Ehitus OÜ and Kemiflora OÜ – on the whole process of the sale of six developed business immovables to a local retailer. Our legal advice consisted in assisting the clients in all the stages of the deal from due diligence, preparing documents and conducting negotiations to closing and resolving practical issues related to closing.

2015

TARK has advised world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of sewing thread and supplies Coats plc on the sale of the EMEA Crafts business to AURELIUS Group.
The Coats EMEA Crafts business is the leading supplier of textile craft products in Europe, with a history going back 250 years. The acquisition covered all Coats plc crafts business in EMEA and included Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. With about 900 employees, the business generated revenues of EUR 100 million in 18 European countries in 2014.

AURELIUS Group is a mid-market pan-European investor focused on value creation through operational improvement. Employing more than 70 professionals, it has offices in Munich, London, Stockholm and Madrid, with portfolio companies operating throughout Europe. AURELIUS has particularly strong capabilities in the Industrials, Chemicals, Business Services, TMT and Consumer sectors and targets Pan-European private and public companies with revenues from EUR 40 million to EUR 1 billion.

TARK advised client on all legal matters to implement the transaction in the Baltic countries, including structuring of the local transfer and its implementation. The Firm advised on localizing the master transfer agreement governed by the UK law for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

2015

TARK advised Fuchs Petrolub SE on the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian law aspects of acquisition of Statoil Fuel & Retail Lubricants business. The transaction was signed in August and closed in October 2015. Fuchs Petrolub is the world’s leading independent supplier of lubricants headquartered in Germany (www.fuchs-oil.com). In the financial year 2014/2015, Statoil Fuel & Retail Lubricants business generated sales revenues of approximately EUR 140 million.

With this acquisition, the Fuchs Group is strengthening its presence in Scandinavia, expanding its market position in Poland and Russia and will now be present in the Baltic States.

TARK’s team carried out the due diligence review of the target’s Baltic operations and advised on the Baltic aspects of the transaction.

2015

27.10.2015 the resolution of Financial Supervision Authority of Estonia came into force, which grants GFC Good Finance Company AS an activity license for provision of additional payment services. GFC Good Finance Company AS, a payment institution under the Payment Services Directive No. 64/2007, has an activity license for provision of number of payment services relating to payment accounts and payment transactions. Referred resolution enables GFC Good Finance Company AS to issue also a payment cards and payment instruments.

2015

TARK successfully advised City Service, a holding company managing one of the largest corporate groups engaged in facility management and integrated utility services in Europe, on establishment of a European Company (Societas Europaea, SE) and admission of its shares to trading on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

The formation of City Service SE was ended in October and the admission of its shares onto the Warsaw Stock Exchange was finished in the middle of November 2015. This establishment of SE was conducted in two stages: by a cross-border merger of City Service with its subsidiary in Estonia and conversion of the merged company into SE, followed by admission of its shares to the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

That was likely the first time in the Baltics that a listed company (on AB NASDAQ OMX Vilnius) was involved in a cross-border merger transaction. After its formation, City Service SE was listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and temporarily remains listed on AB NASDAQ OMX Vilnius.

2015

Vaklak OÜ, a holding company managed by the Austrian businessman Wolfgang Leitner and owned by a group of Austrian investors, acquired agricultural businesses AS Peetri Põld ja Piim, OÜ Tammsaare and OÜ Nordwinter. Vaklak already owns a number of dairy and crop farming companies in Estonia. The principal area of activity of Peetri Põld ja Piim and OÜ Tammsaare is also dairy farming, including milk production and sale, sale of animals, and sale of grains and rape.

The sales revenue of Peetri Põld ja Piim was 3.2 million euros and that of OÜ Tammsaare was 1.4 million euros in 2014. Vaklak earned a profit of 1.4 million euros last year.

2016

The conference was held on 4th of March in 2016 in conference center of Sokos Hotel Viru.

Conference was led by Henrik Roonemaa (founder of Geenius.ee, IT specialist and journalist).

Well-known business and public men and women, Aare Tark (attorney), Jevgeni Ossinovski (Minister of Health and Labour), Taavet Hinrikus(founder of TransferWise), Ülle Madise (Chancellor of Justice), Maarja Kruusmaa (TTÜ, Centre for Biorobotics), Merle Liisu Lindma (HR Manager of Microsoft/Skype) held direct discussions over the innovations witnessed during last years and the new possibilities/challenges created by these. Generation Z was represented by D’n’B band Cartoon.

The full-length video of the conference can be watched HERE.