Nortal Group shareholders buy out the company

Nortal Group shareholders bought back 50% of Group shares from Enterprise Investors and LHV Pension Funds, regaining full ownership of the company. Simultaneously Nortal is expanding its shareholder base among employees.

According to Nortal CEO Priit Alamäe, it is a proud day for the company to be once again fully owned by its employees. “Six years ago we reached a point in the development of the company where we needed investments to maximize our potential for growth and expansion. We have used the additional resources to expand to new geographies and we have increased our revenue by three times. The company is increasingly profitable with a strong order backlog. We thank the investors for their trust in us, for which we have earned them a good return of investment. Nortal will continue to develop stronger than ever,” said Alamäe.

The combined transaction price is 15 million euros, based on current equity value of 30 million euros. LHV Pension funds entered as a Nortal Group shareholder in November 2012 Enterprise Investors EVF I two years earlier. Both funds received a strong return of investment from the Nortal transactions. “Nortal earned future Estonian pensioners in the LHV funds a 69% profit in 4 years. In our 16-year history, all investors have made a good profit from their investments in Nortal and we are proud of this fact,” said Alamäe.

Fund manager of LHV pension funds, Andres Viisemann expressed satisfaction over investments in Nortal. “During the period when LHV pension funds were part of the shareholder base, the company made great progress, which is also reflected in return of investment. Our role in financing the development of Nortal will not end with this transaction – LHV pension funds will remain behind the company as bond investor. I hope Nortal will receive an additional kick from the greater role of the company’s employees as shareholders,” said Viisemann.

“Nortal is the company of first choice in Estonia, Finland and Oman, where it built a strong position as the expert for government projects. Since our investment the company not only grew in terms of geography but developed expertise necessary to carry out sophisticated programmes for most demanding customers,” said Rafał Bator, partner in Enterprise Investors responsible for the transaction. “We are proud to be a part of these developments,” he added.

The transaction was financed by a combination of own funds and leverage. Nortal’s management was advised by law firm Derling in the transaction.

Nortal Group is now owned through Nortal Group Holding AS by 34 employees either directly or through personal investment vehicles. 10 of those shareholders are new additions to the shareholder base. “Nortal’s success has been, is and will be driven by the talent and hard work of our people. We are in this together and we are proud to have 10 of our employees become new shareholders,” said Alamäe.

In 2016, the group continues to expand to new markets and invest into Nortal Concepts, to deliver a meaningful impact in our core competence areas through an integrated approach to strategy and process redesign, change management and technology transformation. Nortal provides solutions for government and healthcare organizations and private enterprises operating in manufacturing, energy, logistics, telecom and finance sectors.

Nortal is a multinational business consulting and software development solutions provider. The company’s turnover in 2015 was 45 million euros. Nortal operates in nearly 20 countries and employs 530 specialists who carry out high-quality, mission-critical and high-impact social projects across Europe, Middle East and Africa. Nortal is a valued employer across all home markets. In Estonia, Nortal has been awarded with the title of the most employee and family-friendly company three times – in 2008, 2010 and 2014.

LHV Group is the largest domestic financial group and capital provider in Estonia. LHV Group’s key subsidiaries are AS LHV Pank and AS LHV Varahaldus. LHV employs over 250 people and about 90,000 customers use LHV’s banking services. Pension funds managed by LHV have over 170,000 customers.

Enterprise Investors is one of the largest private equity firms in Central and Eastern Europe. Active since 1990, the firm has raised eight funds with total capital exceeding EUR 2 billion. These funds have invested EUR 1.7 billion in 136 companies across a range of sectors and exited 113 companies with total gross proceeds of EUR 2.4 billion.