Livonia Partners has raised €157 million for its second fund, cementing its position as a leading private equity investor in the Baltic region.
With the fund closing above target, Livonia Partners has grown significantly since its first fund at €73 million in 2015. Speciality manufacturing and TMT sectors remained key value drivers from the first fund, with Livonia generally maintaining a wide industry focus. Since the first close of the second fund last summer, the team has completed three new investments and added Mindaugas Rapolas and Ernests Bordans as next-generation deal partners.
Livonia Fund II builds upon its supportive Baltic, Nordic, and Western European investor base of pension funds, IFIs, and family offices, most of whom increased their commitments for the second fund considerably. Despite the challenging backdrop of geopolitical tensions and inflationary pressures, the final close of Fund II also expanded the investor base.
"We have grown as a team in numbers and experience, and sustained our investment pace in a region and with a strategy where we consider ourselves experts,” added founding partners Kristīne Bērziņa, Mindaugas Utkevičius, and Kaido Veske jointly. “The Baltic investment universe has become remarkably attractive over the last 10 years, as an increasing number of entrepreneurs seek to expand across the continent. We help companies to facilitate generational ownership change, and to grow faster organically or strategically through acquisitions. We are grateful for the unwavering investor support in a challenging macroeconomic environment.”
Oskars Briedis, Funds Manager at Swedbank Investment Management, the fund’s largest investor, says: “Our cooperation with Livonia Partners started in 2015, when we invested in Livonia Partners Fund I. We are delighted to continue supporting Livonia Partners by participating in Fund II. We are especially happy to invest into a Latvia-domiciled fund, and to make sustainable investments in growing Latvian and Baltic companies.”
“Luminor managed pension funds, in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, are delighted to invest in Livonia Partners Fund II. The fund is focused on identifying growth opportunities in Baltic enterprises and has a strong track record in sustainability focused investments which closely aligns with pension fund investors’ need for long-term value creation,” says Atis Krūmiņš, Head of Luminor Asset Management and Pensions Unit in the Baltic States.
Since its launch in 2015, Livonia has completed 21 investments, creating a successful portfolio with over 2,400 employees and combined revenues of over €400 million. The core principles of the Livonia Fund II investment strategy include sustainable growth prospects and a meaningful positive impact on society and the environment. The companies typically have an enterprise value ranging from €10 million to €100 million. Since its first closing in September 2021, the fund has made three investments, which include BestAir and Zave, distributors of green home climate solutions, CSUB, a leading Northern European supplier of composite solutions to the subsea and aquaculture industries, and Stebby, the largest wellness service marketplace in the Baltics. Livonia acquires majority and minority stakes in mature companies whose owners wish to sell or to seek growth financing.
Contact
Kristīne Bērziņa, Founding Partner in Latvia, kristine.berzina@livoniapartners.com
Kaido Veske, Founding Partner in Estonia, kaido.veske@livoniapartners.com
Mindaugas Utkevicius, Founding Partner in Lithuania, mindaugas.utkevicius@livoniapartners.com
About Livonia Partners: Livonia Partners is a pan-Baltic private equity investment firm that is managing assets of EUR 240 million. The Livonia team works across Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Fund investors are Baltic and Nordic pension funds, including Swedbank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Fund (EIF) investing through the Baltic Innovation Fund 2 (an initiative created by cooperation between the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, and the EIF) and others. Livonia Fund II is classified as an Article 8 or “light green” fund under the EU’s new Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.