Sorainen advised Baltic Horizon Fund, managed by Northern Horizon Capital, in acquiring the Vainodes 1 office building in Riga, at a total purchase price of approx EUR 21.3 million.
On 14 November 2017 the deal was confirmed when a share purchase agreement was signed with sellers NULE 4 and NM 2 for the acquisition of Vainodes 1 and a neighbouring land plot located at Telts 1, Riga. Since the transaction is structured as a share deal, the buyer is to acquire shares in the SPV companies that own the property. Transaction closing is subject to the customary conditions precedent and is expected to take place in December.
The office building acquired is fully occupied and located within a ten-minute drive from Riga city centre. The total leasable area of the building is 8 052 m2. The anchor tenant is JSC Latvian State Forests (about 90% of GLA); other tenants include pharmaceutical company Abbvie and a cafeteria. The current detailed plan for the land plots includes an opportunity to construct up to 18 262 m2 of additional office space and a multi-storey car park.
Notes Baltic Horizon Fund manager Tarmo Karotam: “We are glad to include such an attractive property in our cash flow portfolio and are satisfied about being able to deploy most of the capital raised in the Q2 offering. The process towards execution of the agreement took longer than usual. This is because additional legal and tax due diligence was needed due to changes in tax regulations in Latvia as of January 2018”.
Sorainen advised the client throughout the deal by performing legal due diligence, drafting the share purchase agreement, and representing the client in negotiations between the parties and signing. The client was advised by Sorainen Latvia senior associate Jânis Bite and country managing partner Eva Berlaus.