Livonia Partners to acquire Klaasimeister

Harriet Matthews
28 October 2019

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

Livonia Partners will acquire 100% of Estonian glass processing company Klaasimeister, subject to approval from the Estonian Competition Authority.

The GP will acquire 100% of the business, buying out both founders. Livonia will appoint a new CEO, according to the GP's co-founder, Kaido Veske.

Veske explained the growth opportunities that the fund saw in the company, particularly in the Scandinavian market: "The use of glass in general is growing within construction and they know how to work on quite complex projects. The company's market share in revenue in the Nordic markets has doubled over the last four years. They have done very well in the flat commercial property market; we are confident that we can go further with a proactive sale strategy."

The GP is currently drawing equity from Livonia Partners Fund I, which closed in August 2015 on €70m and was 50% deployed as of June 2017, and will be 70% deployed following this investment. The fund commits €3-15m in equity or mezzanine capital per investment.

On the numbers for the Klaasimeister deal, Veske said: "We are investing almost exactly in the middle of the €3-15m range. It is a single-digit entry multiple that we are happy with."

Asked about the GP's strategy for Klaasimeister, Veske said: "We are definitely trying to grow the company at least 50% from what it is today. There was interest around the company for a while – the usual bottleneck was that a management team would not be there right away, but we have solved this, and it will help with the process."

Livonia announced in April 2019 that it is set to deploy a second fund of €150-200m, investing €10-20m equity per deal.

Company
Founded in 1997 in Tartu, Estonia, Klaasimeister is a glass processing company that regularly provides glass units for façade projects in Europe. It has revenues of €16m, 80% of which comes from the Scandinavian market, according to Veske.

It employs 90 staff, according to its website. The company is based in Kolu, near Tallinn.

People
Livonia Partners – Kaido Veske (co-founder).