BaltCap Private Equity Fund II managed by BaltCap, the leading private equity and venture capital investor in the Baltic States,  acquired property manager BPT Real Estate AS which provides services in the Baltic States and Poland. BaltCap acquired the company from Northern Horizon Capital A/S.

BPT Real Estate is the leading property management company in the region. The team of 80 professionals manages more than 150 properties, whose total area amounts to 1 million square meters, and has more than 1000 tenants. The majority of the properties managed by BPT Real Estate are located in the Baltic States. In addition, BPT manages several properties in Poland.

“The real estate market in the Baltic States is becoming similar to those of the developed countries, where ever increasing role is played by the institutional investors. For this reason independent property management and real esate advisory services are in greater demand than ever before. BPT Real Estate is one of the best known brands in the region and, therefore, we chose to invest into a qualified team of professionals which provide top quality services. We expect that the investment and experience of the fund will help BPT Real Estate strengthen its reputation as reliable and independent partner for those who invest into real estate in Baltic States and Poland,” noted Šarūnas Alekna, BaltCap investment director.

”The sale of BPT Real Estate is the logical conclusion of the last couple of years’ gradual process of establishing and empowering BPT Real Estate as a property management company that is independent of Northern Horizon’s core investment management business. The divestment allows Northern Horizon to fully focus on growing its core investment management business. In that segment we see many interesting opportunities to offer to our investor clients new investment products not just in the Nordics and Germany, but also in the Baltics where BPT Real Estate’s activities are focused. Furthermore, Northern Horizon will post-transaction continue to maintain and expand its own significant on-the-ground presence in the Baltics through our in-house investment management, fund administration and corporate services teams there,” comments Michael Schönach, Northern Horizon Capital Group CEO.

“BPT Real Estate has been growing year on year basis in the market and has become the leading service provider in value adding real estate services. After full separation from Northern Horizon Capital group we will continue offering property management services to all Northern Horizon Capital funds in Baltics and Poland. Our ambition is to continue being the leading brand to guarantee the highest quality standards and to introduce new value adding services. With BaltCap as an investor we are confident that such goals will be reached even sooner and after separating from Northern Horizon Capital we can continue our growth fully independent,“comments Indrek Hääl, BPT Real Estate Group CEO.

The transaction is subject to approval by competition authorities and is expected to close in September 2015. Sorainen were acting as BaltCap’s legal advisor.

Northern Horizon Capital is a real asset investment management firm with activities in the Nordic countries, Germany, the Baltics and Poland, and St.Petersburg, Russia. Northern Horizon focuses on offering its institutional investor base specialised strategies in emerging real asset subsectors such as carehomes, farmland, as well as selected commercial real estate strategies.

Additional information:

Šarūnas Alekna

BaltCap investment director

sarunas.alekna@baltcap.com

Tel.: +370 686 89242

BaltCap sold its 48% shareholding in the Latvian moulded fiber manufacturing company VLT Ltd.

BaltCap invested in the company back in 2004 to finance two rounds of expansion of production capacity. While post crisis economic environment proved challenging to sustain growth of the company, the moulded fiber packaging producer maintained solid profitability, acquired new export markets and solidified its market position in Eastern Europe. The shareholding was sold to one of the founders of the business. Parties agreed not to disclose details of transaction.

About VLT

VLT (www.eggbox.lv) is the leading moulded fiber packaging producer in the Baltics. Moulded fiber packaging products – egg trays and egg boxes – are sold to largest egg producers in the CEE and Nordic area of Europe with more than 90% of products being exported. The company commenced moulded fiber packaging production in 1999 and currently employs 60 people. Sales of the company reached EUR 3.2 million in 2014.

Additional information:

Sandijs Abolins-Abols

BaltCap

Partner

+37167356396

sandijs.abolins-abols@baltcap.com

The leading Baltic private equity and venture capital investment management company BaltCap has agreed on an additional EUR 1.0 million investment with its portfolio company, one of the most succesful Latvian cosmetics producers and franchise developers STENDERS.

STENDERS is a cosmetics producer with 200 franchise stores in 22 countries worldwide. With 110 stores in the main cities of China, STENDERS has one of the strongest cosmetics retail chains in China. In 2014, the company’s global retail revenues reached EUR 27 million. The success story of the brand has been based on high quality products and special packaging, store experience and succesful franchise concept.

At the beginning of 2015, world class cosmetics industry manager Julien Laporte became the CEO of STENDERS. Laporte has previously held the positions of Board Member of the world famous French brand L’Occitane, generating over EUR 1 billion in sales; General Manager of UK cosmetics brand Crabtree & Evelyn; and CEO of L’Oreal Turkey. By the strengthening of the management team with international cosmetics management expertise and attraction of additional investment, STENDERS has ambitious plans for 2015, including own store openings in the vibrant cities of Singapore and London, as well as significant expansion of product portfolio.

“We have already stressed our determination for rapid development in the international market and willingness to attract new investments. Successful cooperation with BaltCap has proven that STENDERS is a stable enterprise with high global potential. Until now the company operated as a rather small ship we steered on our own; however, along with larger investments we are approaching deeper international waters at a fast pace. This creates the necessity for a manager with extensive global experience and we are happy to have found such a person,” says Janis Berzins, STENDERS Chairman of the Council.

“The investment in STENDERS is bound to making sure that the brand will flow in the same seas as the top competitors like L’Occitane, Kiehl’s, Crabtree & Evelyn, since the brand deserves it fully. I have personally worked within the main competitive brands and I must say STENDERS doesn’t have to envy its competitors. I would even say that STENDERS has a little something more! The international development will be anchored on the already very successful development in China and STENDERS will leverage this success in the rest of Asia from 2015, starting with Singapore, Korea and many others to follow. We are working very strongly with STENDERS team to adapt the product portfolio to reinforce Asian progress with specific product developments for this region that will be launched in the next months. Crossing these new borders is truly exciting. And as the ambition is to become a global brand, STENDERS is planning to open two stores in London, the number one touristic city in the world. 2015 will be a great turnaround year for the company’s international development – but this is only the beginning,” says the new CEO Julien Laporte.

“We are extremely happy to provide financing for further expansion of STENDERS which is one of the best examples of Latvian companies’ capabilities to create brands and products that are truly competitive on a global scale. We are satisfied that we can provide further funding from our state and EU supported fund for the product portfolio expansion and working capital needs of a Latvian brand with global presence,” said Astra Neimane, Investment Director at BaltCap.

Further information:

Astra Neimane                                 

BaltCap

Investment Director

+37129116680

astra.neimane@baltcap.com

Baiba Čipa – Ziemele

Stenders
Head of Marketing and Communications

+371 26321221

baiba.cipa.ziemele@stenders.lv

BaltCap has successfully reached the second close on its latest fund, BaltCap Private Equity Fund II (BPEF II) which has now €81.5m of available capital (with subscribed commitments reaching already €85m). The target size of BPEF II remains €100m.

The new investors joining the fund at second close include Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian pension funds of SEB Wealth Management, a private equity fund-of-fund managed by eQ Private Equity and J-Investicijos Family Office. SEB pension funds committed in total €16.36m (€5.7m from Estonia, €5.06m from Latvia and €5.6m from Lithuania).

BPEF II makes equity investments in innovative companies based in the Baltic region focusing on buy-and-build opportunities. BPEF II will seek to acquire controlling ownership stakes, typically investing between €5 and €10 million per portfolio company. BaltCap will act as an active medium term investor partnering with management teams in order to build market leading companies in their respective sectors. BPEF II has already completed its first investment by acquiring 75% ownership in Ecoservice, the leading waste management company in Lithuania.

BPEF II held the first close in the beginning of 2014 and has now received commitments from all larger Baltic pension funds. The fund’s investors after second close include the Baltic Innovation Fund, the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development, Baltic pension funds managed by Swedbank Investment Funds, LHV Asset Management, Danske Capital and SEB Wealth Management, a private equity fund-of-fund managed by eQ Private Equity and J-Investicijos Family Office.

Mr Peeter Saks, Managing Partner of BaltCap said, “BPEF II has been well received in the market, both among institutional investors and potential investment targets. We are very pleased to welcome on-board BPEF II five additional distinguished institutional investors who all play an important role in our region. We believe the Baltic markets continue to have a positive outlook and offer excellent opportunities for private equity to develop fast growing and internationally competitive companies.”

Mr Sven Kunsing, Head of Eastern European Investment Management at SEB Wealth Management added, “SEB Wealth Management is happy to cooperate with such a professional and experienced private equity player as BaltCap to get a high quality Baltic equity exposure for SEB’s Baltic pension funds. As the opportunities in Baltic listed equity markets remain very limited, we expect that pension funds’ participation in private markets will be offering better risk/return characteristics to our investors while also creating new opportunities for the listed markets in the future and will foster economic growth in all three economies.”

Mr Hubert Cottogni, EIF Deputy Director and Head of Mandate Management said, “We are very pleased with the interest and the level of participation of private investors in BPEF II. With the cornerstone investment from the Baltic Innovation Fund, BaltCap has now raised a significantly sized fund, which will benefit the whole region.”

Additional information:

Martin Kõdar

Managing Partner

Martin.Kodar@baltcap.com

Phone: +372 665 0280

BaltCap’s portfolio company FCR Media Group has taken over MTI Telefonski imenik / Zute stranice d.o.o., the Croatian operation of Müller Verlag. This continues FCR Media’s expansion across Europe and now one of the largest local search footprints in Europe with operations in 12 countries.

FCR Media Group announced today that it has taken over the local search operations of MTI Telefonski imenik / Zute stranice d.o.o. from Müller Verlag, Nuremberg Germany bringing the total number of countries FCR Media is operating in to 12. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Adding Croatia to the FCR Media portfolio, which includes Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Russia and the Baltics (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia), positions FCR Media as one of the strongest local search companies for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) across Europe.

MTI Telefonski imenik / Zute stranice has been a leading provider of advertising solutions to small and medium-sized businesses in Croatia since 1998. It offers a complete range of online, mobile and print solutions to meet its customers’ needs.

“We see this as a great opportunity to build a big player in the online and mobile market in Croatia.  It is a natural fit with our other operations in Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania,” said Jon Martinsen, CEO of FCR Media Group. “We believe we can build on the strong foundation and history of the MTI company by using our proven business and advertising models from our other operations to allow us to drive more product innovation which will benefit our customers in this rapidly changing business environment.”

About FCR Media Group

FCR Media Group is the leading local search provider in 12 countries around Europe. With expertise in online and off-line advertising we bring valuable and affordable solutions to Small and Medium Businesses and help them make sense of the fast changing world of advertising.  The group now has a turnover of over 75 million euros and more than 1,000 employees

Contact:

Jon Martinsen, CEO

FCR Media Group OU

Tel: +372 53 015 015

Email: jon.martinsen@fcrmedia.com

BaltCap, the leading dedicated private equity and venture capital investor in the Baltic States, has acquired a controlling interest in Ecoservice UAB, a leading waste management company in Lithuania. BaltCap Private Equity Fund II (“BPEF II”), advised by BaltCap, will control 75 percent of shares of Ecoservice. The remaining 25 percent of shares will remain with previous owner City Service, AB. The value of transaction is EUR 14.9 million (100% equity value).

“BaltCap’s strategy is to invest in attractive, leading companies with growth potential in the Baltic States. As one of the leaders in the growing recycling services market, Ecoservice meets these criteria. The company has an experienced and ambitious management, as well as clear opportunities for expansion,” said Šarūnas Alekna, BaltCap Investment Director.

The business is seeking to capitalise on the growing importance of environmental concerns, promoting the uptake of recycling. Combined with this, Lithuania is lagging behind Western countries on numerous parameters. Lithuanian waste generation per capita is lower than the EU average (400 kilograms and 500 kilograms respectively) – a figure that is expected to grow in tandem with country’s economic recovery. About 75 percent of waste in Lithuania is currently put into landfill, many times higher than that seen in countries such as Sweden and Germany, where the vast majority is recycled or incinerated. Lithuania aims to reduce the amount of landfilled waste to 35 percent of total by 2020.

There are more than 100 municipal waste management companies currently operating in Lithuania, which provides opportunities for market consolidation in Lithuania and in other Baltic States.

“Considering the European Union directives and Lithuania’s strategic plans, amounts of waste dumped in landfills will have to be decreased drastically. This will require significant investments in all segments of municipal waste management – from recycling containers and waste collection systems to sorting and recycling capacities,” said Š. Alekna.

CEO of City Service Jonas Janukėnas added: “To adhere to unbundling requirements, we have sold a controlling stake in Ecoservice to BaltCap’s BPEF II. I’m certain that BaltCap’s experience in managing Baltic mid-sized companies will be instrumental in successfully developing Ecoservice’s waste management business across the region going forward.”

City Service, UAB, is obliged to sell Ecoservice due to regulatory requirements to unbundle businesses. City Service is to withdraw from business of collecting, transporting and processing of secondary raw materials and municipal waste by 1st June, 2014. City Service took the opportunity to maintain a part of company’s shareholding without any exclusive acquisition or corporate governance rights.

The investment in Ecoservice is the first from BPEF II, which was launched last year and reached a first close on €51m earlier this year. The fund will pursue a similar strategy to its predecessor fund, aiming to acquire controlling stakes in leading Baltic growth businesses with the ability to scale across the region and wider Europe.

About Ecoservice

Ecoservice, together with subsidiaries, is engaged in collection, transportation and processing of secondary raw materials and household waste. The company has been actively expanding throughout regions of Lithuania since 2007. Consolidated revenues of the group amounted to EUR 16 million.

Established in 1995, the company has been operating this business for over ten years. The company employs about 260 people.

Additional information:

Šarūnas Alekna

BaltCap investment director

sarunas.alekna@baltcap.com

Tel.: +370 686 89242

FCR Media Holding has taken over MTT Magyar Telefonkönyvkiadó Társaság, Hungary. This continues FCR Media’s expansion across Europe and now boasts one of the largest local search footprints in Europe with operations in 11 countries.  The new company will be named MTT Media KFT.

FCR Media Holding announced today that it has taken over the local search operations of MTT Media, bringing the total number of countries FCR Media is operating in to 11.  Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Adding Hungary to the FCR Media portfolio, which includes Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Russia and the Baltics (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia), positions FCR Media as one of the strongest local search companies for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) across Europe.

MTT Media has been a leading provider of advertising solutions to small and medium sized businesses in Hungary since 1991. It offers a complete range of online, mobile and print solutions to meet its customers’ needs.

As well as offering an extensive range of proprietary products and services, including the market leading online directories www.telefonkönyv.hu and www.aranyodalak.hu, MTT Media also offers a wide range of Search Engine Marketing products such as Google AdWords™.

“We see this as a great opportunity to build a big player in the online and mobile market in Hungary.  It is a natural fit with our other operations in Czech Republic, Slovkia and Romania,” said Jon Martinsen, CEO of FCR Media Holding. “We believe we can build on the strong foundation and history of MTT Media by using our proven business and advertising models from our other operations to allow us to drive more product innovation which will benefit our customers in this rapidly changing business environment.”

About the company:
FCR Media Group is the leading local search provider in 11 countries around Europe.  With expertise in online and off-line advertising we bring valuable and affordable solutions to Small and Medium Businesses and help them make sense of the fast changing world of advertising.  The group now has a turnover of over 75 million euros and more than 1,000 employees.

FCR Media operates in 11 countries:  Sweden, Ireland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Finland, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Hungary.

Additional information:

FCR Media

Jon Martinsen     

CEO
+372 53 015 015

Jon.Martinsen@fcrmedia.com

BaltCap’s portfolio company FCR Media launches in Romania by taking over Romanian Yellow Pages’ online properties from bankrupt Pagini Aurii S.A

FCR Media has saved the well-known Romanian Yellow Pages concept by acquiring 100% of the online properties from bankrupt Pagini Aurii S.A. 

FCR Media On line is the first venture into Romania for the international Local Search group FCR Media.  The Romanian Yellow Pages has information on over 600,000 companies in Romania and the Balkans. It is an important free resource for businesses and the public to find the products and services they need quickly and easily.

FCR Media will begin by transforming the search engine www.paginiaurii.ro into the most effective tool for promoting any business by significantly improving the information presently available online and by bringing its technological and business expertise to launch new products and new methods for advertising using Pay For Performance Advertising (PFP).

“We are very happy with this acquisition and the results of the first two weeks – we have already added 200 new customers. This shows that we have a very bright future ahead in Romania,” said Jon Martinsen, CEO of FCR Media.

Note:  FCR Media only acquired the rights for the online properties from Pagini Aurii S.A. which is in bankruptcy and has no link to its previous actions or debts.

About the company:
FCR Media is a leading company in the Baltic States, Ireland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Russia for local search and advertising. Via a highly trained workforce of 1400 employees, comprehensive database and well-established brands, the company seeks to be the best provider of leads for small and medium size businesses in its markets.

Additional information:

FCR Media

Jon Martinsen

CEO
+372 53 015 015

Jon.Martinsen@fcrmedia.com

Romania

Cristea Mihai

General Manager

+40 (0) 720 770 525

mihai.cristea@paginiaurii.ro

FCR Media Holding has purchased FR&R Invest’s 40% shareholding in FCR Media Baltics SIA, formerly Contact Holding SIA, and now has 100% ownership of the leading local search company in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

FCR Media Holding announced today that it has taken 100% control of FCR Media Baltics SIA after purchasing 40% of the company from FR&R Invest for an undisclosed amount. FCR Media Baltics SIA becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of FCR Media Holding.

“We are excited to now have all our companies 100% owned and operating under one brand across Europe,” said Jon Martinsen, Group CEO of FCR Media.
“We believe our group of companies have positioned themselves for growth and that the time is right to take total ownership.”

“We can now execute our strategy of becoming a leading Digital Media Agency in the Baltics with support from our other operations around Europe,” said Martinsen.

About FCR Media

FCR Media is the leading local search group in the Baltics and has extended its expertise into Ireland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. The group now has a turnover of nearly €50 million and 1,000 employees and has one of the largest local search footprints in Europe.

Additional information:

Jon Martinsen                                                

CEO

FCR Media

Tel: +372 53 015 015

E-mail: jon.martinsen@fcrmedia.ee

Oliver Kullman

Investment Director

BaltCap

Tel: +3726650283

E-mail: oliver.kullman@baltcap.com

• This week, BaltCap portfolio company Air Maintenance Estonia (AME) opens a new three-bay aircraft maintenance hangar at Tallinn Airport, which triples AME’s service capability opening new major expansion opportunities in the Nordic region as well as in Europe. The cost of the new facility is 10,5 million euros.

According to the CEO of AME, David Williams, the state of art of the facility combined with the highly qualified experienced staff enable AME to develop into a leading aircraft maintenance services provider in the region.

”We consider the geographical location within two and half-hours flight time from Tallinn Airport as our potential market including the Baltic and Nordic markets, the Northern Europe, the U.K as well as a great part of Central Europe and Western Russia. Now with the total of 3 service bays we are attractive to a large number of airlines as well as leasing companies,” added Williams.

The maximum capacity of the new facility is to provide base maintenance services to a maximum of 72 aircrafts per year instead of the current 24. With the new hangar, AME added the Airbus 320 family to the base maintenance capability list in addition to Boeing 737 Classic and 737 NG. AME is also certified for the line maintenance of the Airbus 320 family, Boeing 737 Classic & NG, Embraer ERJ-170/190, CRJ-900NG, and SAAB 340.

The clients of AME include SAS, Austrian Airlines, Easyjet, Norwegian, Ryanair, Lufthansa, Estonian Air and other airlines.

The owner of the hangar is Tallinn Airport who signed a 30-year lease with AME.  According to Rein Loik, the Chairman of the Board of Tallinn Airport, the completion of AME’s facility confirms an encouraging fact that there are venture capitalists that are courageous enough to invest in real tangible projects instead of another phone app or world-conquering web service. “Hi-tech, value added and highly competitive projects with a great growth potential are the ones that Estonian economy currently needs. Therefore, we are especially proud to be long-term partners with AME.”

The completion of the facility was financed by Kredex investment loan. “AME is a great role model of a well-operating, internationally competitive company that sets a good example for other businesses in the market,” said Andrus Treier, the head of Kredex. “Kredex’s objective is to provide financing for companies with a great potential and we are glad to support AME in its expansion.”

The facility was designed by Innopolis Insenerid OÜ, and the main contractor was Merko Ehitus AS. The new facility’s aircraft service area, that simultaneously accommodates 3 narrow-bodied aircraft, is almost 5,000 m2 that is comparable with the size of 12 basket-ball courts.

Currently AME employs 200 people, 40 of them were hired over the last year to facilitate the needs of the newly completed hangar. Over the next years, the company plans to increase the number of staff by about 20%.

Air Maintenance Estonia is owned by Baltcap who purchased the company from SAS in 2010.

Additional information:

David Williams, CEO

Air Maintenance Estonia

Tel 53 00 45 15

david@ame.ee

FCR Media Holding purchases Mediatel operations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia from European Directories. FCR Media now has one of the largest local search footprints in Europe.

FCR Media Holding announced today that it has purchased Mediatel SA in the Czech Republic and Slovakia from European Directories for an undisclosed amount.

Mediatel has been a leading provider of advertising solutions to small and medium sized businesses in both countries for over 20 years.  It offers a complete range of online, mobile and print solutions to meet its customers’ needs.

As well as offering an extensive range of proprietary products and services, Mediatel also offers a wide range of Search Engine Marketing products such as Google AdWords™ and Facebook.

This acquisition extends FCR Media’s portfolio into Central Europe for the first time.  FCR Media operates the leading Local Search and Operator Services companies in Ireland and the Baltics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania).  FCR Media now has one of the largest footprints for local search in Europe.

“This is an opportunity we feel is a good strategic fit with our other operations in terms of size and market development,” said Jon Martinsen, CEO of FCR Media Holding. “Combining Mediatel with our other operations will allow us to drive more product innovation which will benefit our customers in this rapidly changing business environment.”

Stuart Ross, Chief Financial Officer for European Directories said: “The sale of Mediatel fulfills another step in European Directories’ strategy of focusing on its core markets of Finland, Austria, The Netherlands and Poland. We are pleased to be able to complete the sale to FCR and we wish them and the Mediatel teams success in the future.”

About FCR Media

FCR Media is the leading local search group in the Baltics and has extended its expertise into Ireland and now Czech Republic and Slovakia.  The group now has a turnover of nearly 50 million euros and 1,000 employees and has one of the largest local search footprints in Europe.

Additional information:

Jon Martinsen

CEO

FCR Media

Tel:        +372 53 015 015

Email:    jon.martinsen@fcrmedia.com

On April 2, 2012, Air Maintenance Estonia AS (AME) appointed David Williams as Managing Director / CEO succeeding Lars-Olof Bolinder who will continue in AME as a Supervisory Board member.

David Williams has more than 38 years of experience in the Aviation Maintenance industry, holding managerial positions in SAS Technical Services, Emirates (airline) and Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies.

“I am looking forward to being part of Air Maintenance Estonia, with all the exciting developments that are happening in the company and Tallinn Airport. With the building of the new hangar we have a great chance to develop AME into being a leading aircraft maintenance services provider in Northern Europe,” noted the new CEO.

Based at Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport, AME is now in the process of a major expansion of its capabilities.

“From August 2012, AME will have a new three-bay hangar for Base Maintenance works of narrow-body aircraft,” says AME’s newly appointed CEO David Williams. “In total we will have three main Base Maintenance lines, and two additional lines for lighter checks and modification works.”

“We have added the Airbus 320 family to our Base Maintenance capability list in addition to Boeing 737 Classic and 737 NG. As for Line Maintenance, AME is certified for the A320 family as well as B737 Classic & NG, Embraer ERJ-170/190, CRJ-900NG, Fokker 50 and SAAB 340.”

“At AME we define our potential geographical market as being within some two hours ferry flight time from our location at Tallinn Airport. This means that in addition to the Baltic and Nordic markets, we also cover Northern Europe, U.K, as well as a great part of Central Europe and Western Russia,” said Williams.

AME’s market-driven expansion goes hand-in-hand with Estonia’s equally solid development on the international markets.

Being an EU member since 2004 and part of the Eurozone since 2011, Estonia’s GDP growth is among the highest and its foreign debt among the lowest in the EU. Simultaneously with the downgrading of the US credit rating last summer, the rating agency Standard & Poor’s upgraded Estonia to an AA- level, placing the country in the second best so called high grade global rating.

In May this year, AME will celebrate its 10-year anniversary.

Additional information:

Kristjan Kalda

Investment Manager

BaltCap

Tel: +3726650284

E-Mail: kristjan.kalda@baltcap.com

BaltCap, the leading private equity investor in the Baltic States, sold its significant minority ownership stake in Tallinna Pesumaja, one of the leading textile rental and laundry service providers in Estonia. The company was purchased by local private investors and transaction amount is not disclosed.

Baltic SME Fund (“SME Fund”), an investment fund advised by BaltCap, provided expansion capital to Tallinna Pesumaja  in 2006. The investment was used for relocating the production to a new modern laundry facility in Kohila, a small town near the capital of Estonia, and for developing textile rental business. During the period of BaltCap’s involvement the company grew significantly in size by signing up several imporant customers in Estonia and Finland.

Tallinna Pesumaja is an industrial laundry house offering laundry and textile rental services to the hotels, hospitals and restaurants. The company started its operations in year 2000 and it is offering a complete door-to-door service to its customers.

Quality assurance and environmental sustainability are very important for Tallinna Pesumaja.

The company is committed to professional and consistent business operations and was issued  of ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 certificates in April 2011.

Further information:

Peeter Saks

Managing Partner

BaltCap

Phone: +372 665 0285

Email: peeter.saks@baltcap.com

www.baltcap.com

Amserv Group subsidiary Hansa Auto SIA signed a contract to acquire 100% of Adam Auto SIA’s shares from Baltic Investment Fund III managed by leading Baltic private equity firm BaltCap and the minority shareholders. Adam Auto SIA operates three Opel and Chevrolet dealerships in Riga, Ventspils and Liepaja.

Adam Auto SIA was founded in 1997. In 2010, the company sold 140 Opel cars (personal and commercial vehicles), 18 Chevrolet cars and 166 used cars. The company employs 76 people.

According to Aivis Silgals, the CEO of Hansa Auto, the acquisition will not lead to significant changes in Adam Auto and its dealerships’ daily work. “During the 14 years of operation, the dealerships of Adam Auto have shown to be highly stable and successful car saloons with a good team and excellent customer service,“ Silgals said.

“We believe that the Latvian economy is increasing rapidly. 2011 is the right time to make new investments in Latvia, taking into account the potential of the car market and the increase in sales figures for 2012-2013.” commented Raivo Kütt, CEO of Amserv Group.

Astra Neimane, Investment Director at BaltCap added: „Since the investment in 2004, BaltCap has developed and supported Adam Auto both during the times of very fast growth and during market decline. Now that the market recovery is taking place, we believe that this is the rigth moment to transfer the ownership of Adam Auto to strategic owner Amserv Group. Becoming a part of one of the leading car dealer groups in the Baltic States would provide additional development opportunities for Adam Auto.“

Amserv Group is the largest car retail and service company in Estonia and Latvia. The company operates 11 dealerships in Tallinn, Pärnu, Tartu, Paide, Viljandi and Riga representing the brands of Toyota, Opel, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Peugeot, Lexus and Saab.

Additional Information:

Astra Neimane
Investment Director
BaltCap Management
Phone: +371 29116680
E-mail: astra.neimane@baltcap.com

Mart Mägi
Managing Director
Amserv Group
Phone: +372 5030199
E-mail: mart.magi@amserv.ee

On February 1^st Baltic SME Fund, advised by BaltCap, sold Koolitööde AS, the company managing the eKool platform. The purchaser was Kriit OÜ, a special purpose vehicle combining Estonian private investors. The transaction amount is not disclosed.

eKool (Estonian for eSchool) connects teachers, students and parents via an online student information system delivered as an ASP solution. Generating revenue since 2003, eKool has reached 85%+ student penetration in Estonia and has become a popular and well-known service. eKool.eu has between 350 and 400 thousand unique monthly visitors, ranking among top 10 websites in Estonia.

“During our holding period eKool has made a major leap – today the platform is used by a large majority of Estonian teachers, students and parents”, said Peeter Saks, the Managing Partner of BaltCap. “It has been a great success and we are satisfied with the Company’s development. We would like to thank the small hard working team of eKool for the opportunity to cooperate during the past five years.”

The Managing Director of Kriit OÜ, Üllar Jaaksoo, commented that eKool has a number of new development opportunities especially in the e-learning and e-schoolbooks field. “For us it is a business opportunity with a sense of mission. As a parent of three sons I am an active user eKool site myself.” The investors of Kriit OÜ include professionals from sectors like IT, web development, investment banking, education, etc.

eKool was established in 2002 by Vaata Maailma (Look at World) Foundation as a tool for improving communication between school and home. In 2005 the management team together with BaltCap completed a buy-out of the eKool project from Vaata Maailma Foundation.

Peeter Saks

BaltCap

Tel. +372 665 0280

Email:peeter.saks@baltcap.com

www.baltcap.com

Üllar Jaaksoo

Kriit OÜ / eKool

Tel. +372 55 05 245

Email: yllar@ekool.eu

www.ekool.eu