Today, the Baltic deals of the year were announced at the Baltic M&A and Private Equity Forum 2024 in Vilnius. The winners of the title are Maag Grupp and Skeleton Technologies of Estonia and PVcase of Lithuania.

Award winners 2024

The Baltic M&A Deal of the Year is Maag Grupp’s acquisition of HKScan‘s Baltic businesses for EUR 90 million. The Estonian food company bought the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian subsidiaries of Finnish HKScan. The subsidiaries produce and sell meat and poultry products under consumer brands like Rakvere, Tallegg, Rigas Miesnieks, Jelgava and Klaipėdos maistas.

Maag Grupp CFO Erik Haavamäe with the award for Baltic M&A Deal of the Year together with Porta Finance Managing Partner Julijus Grigaliūnas (on the left) and Sorainen partner Mantas Petkevičius (on the right).

Other nominees in the Baltic M&A Deal of the Year category included the merger of the retail businesses of INVL and Šiaulių bankas for EUR 41.8 million; the acquisition of a Lithuanian wind development project from E Energija by Ignitis Renewables, and Aktiva Finance Group’s acquisition of Intrum’s Baltic businesses for EUR 30 million.

The Baltic Private Equity/Venture Capital Deal of the Year is Skeleton Technologies raising EUR 108 million from top investors, which include industrial giants Siemens and Marubeni. Skeleton Technologies is an Estonia-based developer of ultracapacitors and provider of energy storage solutions, who seeks to use the money to develop, among other things, a new high-power battery technology called the SuperBattery.

Skeleton Technologies VP of PR & Government Affairs Arnaud Castaignet with the award for Baltic Private Equity/Venture Capital Deal of the Year together with Porta Finance Managing Partner Julijus Grigaliūnas (on the left) and Sorainen partner Mantas Petkevičius (on the right).

Other nominees in the category included PVcase raising EUR 89 million in a round led by Highland Europe, Energize Ventures and Elephant; and Elcogen securing a EUR 45 million strategic investment from Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, a member of Hyundai Group.

The Baltic Outbound Deal of the Year is Lithuanian PVcase’s acquisition of Anderson Optimization, the world’s most popular solar siting software platform. This will allow PVcase, the global leader in solar project design software, to integrate platforms, cutting data risk and otherwise improving the development process.

PVcase Head of Strategic Initiatives Paulius Miečius with the award for Baltic Outbound Deal of the Year together with Porta Finance Managing Partner Julijus Grigaliūnas (on the left) and Sorainen partner Mantas Petkevičius (on the right).

Other nominees in the category included INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund and Eco Baltia’s acquisition of 70% of Poland’s largest PVC recycler, Metal-Plast; BaltCap and co-investors’ acquisition of Xpediator, a fast-growing international freight management company; and Nortal’s acquisition of Bulgaria’s Questers.

The Baltic M&A and Private Equity Awards are presented annually at the Baltic M&A and Private Equity Forum. This celebration of the achievements of the Baltic M&A industry has been a tradition for nine years.

The awards cover deals closed between 18 February 2023 and 31 December 2023. The winning deals were selected based on criteria such as their strategic importance for the Baltic market, their value, their complexity and/or innovative nature, their ESG impact, and their involvement of Baltic stakeholders.

Awards Committee

The transactions of the year were selected by an independent pan-Baltic panel of market professionals and experts:

  • Edgars Pīgoznis, LVCA Board member and Glücksburg Investment Partner (Latvia)
  • Greta Mieliauskaitė, Managing Director at LTVCA (Lithuania)
  • Julijus Grigaliūnas, Managing Partner at Porta Finance (Lithuania)
  • Kadri Lindpere, Managing Director at EstVCA (Estonia)
  • Meelis Kitsing, the Rector of and Professor of Political Economy at the Estonian Business School (Estonia)
  • Olga Fedjakina, Partner and Board Member at ZGI Capital (Latvia)

You can read more about previous award winners here: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018.

About the Baltic M&A and Private Equity Forum

Sorainen organised the Baltic M&A and Private Equity Forum 2024 in Vilnius on 16 April in cooperation with Verslo žinios, the Lithuanian business media house. The forum rotates between the three Baltic countries and is organised annually by Sorainen in partnership with Baltic business media and venture capital associations.

Each year the forum gathers about 250 participants representing private equity, venture capital funds and investment banking, consultants, lawyers, as well as business executives and owners from the Baltics and beyond.

Next year, the Baltic M&A and Private Equity Forum will be held on 23 April in Tallinn, in the former submarine factory Proto Invention Factory.

Early Bird registration is now open! Grab your ticket at a reduced price before April 22nd 2024!