Livonia Partners holds €70m first close for inaugural fund

The Baltic buyout vehicle is the culmination of Livonia's efforts since it was founded three years ago. LPFI will target €85m, with a €100m hard-cap. Speaking to unquote", founding partner Kaido Veske said: "We have 12 months to reach final close and it's generally difficult to say when we will hold it."

Livonia was founded by Kristīne Bērziņa, Rain Lõhmus, Mindaugas Utkevičius and Kaido Veske. It is headquartered in Latvia and has offices in Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius.

The fund is domiciled in Latvia and follows a traditional 10+2 lifespan, with industry-standard terms and conditions.

LPFI is the second CEE-region vehicle to hold a first close this week, after Genesis Capital announced the first close of its Czech Republic and Slovakia-focused GPEF III fund on €45m.

Investors
Pension fund LHV is the cornerstone in LPFI, while other investors include the European Investment Fund (through the Baltic Innovation Fund), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and Swedbank Investment Management.

The fund's investors are a mix of pension funds, insurance companies and developmental finance institutions. Around 40% of the LPs are Baltic investors, while the remaining 60% are non-Baltic European backers.

Investments
LPFI will follow a generalist strategy, taking both majority and minority stakes in companies operating in the Baltic countries and the surrounding regions.

The vehicle will commit tickets of €3-15m of equity or mezzanine capital per investment, targeting a total of 8-12 investments during the fund's lifespan.

People
Kristīne Bērziņa, Rain Lõhmus, Mindaugas Utkevičius and Kaido Veske are the founders of Livonia.

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