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On 11 September, Jūlija Zandersone joined the management team of PET Baltija, the largest and fastest growing environmental resource management and recycling group in the Baltics, and will now be the Chairman of the Management Board and Head of the Recycling Sector of the Eco Baltia Group.

Māris Simanovičs, Chairman of the Management Board of Eco Baltia: “Over the past year and a half, PET Baltija has experienced both challenges and significant development. Even though the recycling sector faces not particularly benevolent conditions in global markets, the company continues to grow, expanding and strengthening its position in the Baltics and Northern Europe. Last year, PET Baltija achieved its best turnover ever, and has started Work on the construction of a new production facility in Olaine, Latvia. As the Eco Baltia Group continues to develop, investments will continue to be made in improving PET Baltija’s operations. However, it also requires a broader vision of the overall development of the industry, and we believe that the addition of professional management to the Board is an opportunity to plan PET Baltija’s growth with even greater capacity.”

Julia Zanderson’s role in the company will be to implement the objectives set by the shareholders, which include accelerating PET Baltija’s development into a regional market leader together with its subsidiary Tesil Fibers. Julia Zanderson has extensive experience in strategic business development management, business planning and customer relationship management. She spent more than ten years in senior positions at design and construction company Citrus Solutions, including five years as Chairman of the Board. Zandersone holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the Riga Technical University  and last year graduated from the London Business School’s Senior Executive Programme.

The changes in the Management Board of PET Baltija are aimed at accelerating the company’s development and investment projects. Therefore, already on 17 July, Kaspars Ezernieks joined the existing Management Board as a member of the Management Board and Executive Director, while Salvis Lapiņš, the previous Chairman of the Management Board of PET Baltija, performed his duties until 21 July this year.

INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund, leading private equity fund in the Baltic States, together with its portfolio company Eco Baltia, the largest waste management and recycling group in the Baltics, agreed to acquire a 70 percent stake in the largest Polish PVC windows recycler Metal-Plast.

The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2023, subject to receiving permission from the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection as well as fulfilling other conditions precedent.

Metal-Plast has about EUR 34 million in annual revenues and employs about 200 people. The company is located in Świebodzice in the Lower Silesia province of Poland. It has current annual recycling capacities of 29,000 tonnes. From an environmental reporting perspective, 1 ton of recycled PVC saves 2 tons of CO2 emissions.

As part of the transaction. Mr. Sebastian Fedorowicz, Founder at Metal-Plast, will retain a 30% stake in the business. He added:

“Following 30 years of successful operations, Metal-Plast has become the leader of the Polish PVC recycling market. This strategic partnership with Eco Baltia and INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund will now enable the company to pursue further growth opportunities.”

Janis Aizbalts, Head of Eco Baltia’s Environmental Services division, commented:

“Eco Baltia continues to grow and expand, not only in the Baltics but also internationally and Metal-Plast fits our internationalisation strategy very well. We now plan to develop Metal-Plast’s recycling capacities by 1.5x to 45,000 tonnes in a year, furthering our contribution to the evolution of circular economies.”

Vytautas Plunksnis, Partner at INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund and Chairman of the Eco Baltia Supervisory Board, added:

“Metal-Plast represents the 8th portfolio investment of INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund. The circular economy remains one of our core investment pillars and we are delighted to again partner with one of the most successful portfolio companies to date in Eco Baltia and Mr. Fedorowicz to further drive Metal-Plast’s exciting growth journey.”

The company will continue to be led by current CEO Mr. Grzegorz Jasinski. He concluded:

“I’m happy that Metal-Plast’s impressive recent track record attracted such strong investors who are well equipped with both capital and expertise to further support our growth in the PVC recycling market. A new wave of window replacement in both Poland and Germany is anticipated and the European Commission estimates that building renovation will be necessary for over 35 million residential buildings in the EU by 2030.”

Post transaction, Eco Baltia will own 42%, S. Fedorowicz 30% and INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund 28% of the shares in Metal-Plast. INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund owns a 52.8% stake in Eco Baltia, while 30.5% is owned by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The remaining shares are owned by the management of the company.

Metal-Plast was advised by M&A advisor mInvestment Banking S.A. (part of mBank group) and law firm Ożóg Tomczykowski. Eco Baltia and the INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund were advised by Wolf Theiss, Sorainen, and Deloitte.

In addition, INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund’s investment period will end in 2024. As a result, the team has already launched a fundraising programme for its successor fund – INVL Private Equity Fund II. This will seek to attract EUR300 million as a target from investors. For full information, please visit: https://bsgf.invl.com/.

In order to promote faster development of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle recycling and facilitate an increase in production capacity, Kaspars Ezernieks has joined the management team of the PET bottle recycling company, JSC PET Baltija, which is part of the largest and fastest-growing environmental resource management and recycling group of companies in the Baltics, JSC Eco Baltia. He has taken on the role of Board Member and CEO.

As a Board Member and CEO of the JSC PET Baltija, K. Ezernieks will be responsible for the operational activities of the company in accordance with the Group’s strategic objectives. Mr Ezernieks will also take care of successful relocation of the existing PET Baltija’s production facility to the new premises in Olaine, implementation of the LEAN culture and the execution of plans, as well as other responsibilities for the company’s operations and development. Previously, K. Ezernieks spent thirteen years in executive positions, including at the company Stora Enso, a leading renewable products packaging, biomaterials, wood construction, and paper manufacturer and supplier, where he held the position of Director at the Latvian-based manufacturing facility in Launkalne.

Mr Māris Simanovičs, Chairman of the Board of Eco Baltia: “PET Baltija has experienced rapid growth in recent years. Despite the challenges on the international market related to the global geopolitical situation, PET Baltija achieved the highest turnover last year.  Last year, we launched one of the most influential investment projects in the company’s history, aimed at increasing PET pellet production capacity. The project involves work on gradual relocation of the current plant in Jelgava to a building currently under construction in Olaine, which will be one of the largest indoor production facilities in Latvia and PET bottle recycling plants in Northern Europe. The next steps in the company’s development, especially in these challenging times, require additional competences and approaches in various business processes, so we see the accession of the PET Baltija’s management as a huge gain on the way of achievement of our goals.”

As far as the development of the JSC PET Baltija is concerned, this year, we are planning to invest in improvement of the company’s processes and increase of efficiency, including new technologies, as well as improvement of the existing technologies, which will provide a possibility to recycle an even higher proportion of recyclable PET materials, with the largest possible share being returned to the re-circulation. This year, the company will also continue its work on the implementation of quality standards to ensure and certify food-grade material, as well contribute to increasing production volume by providing the right quality and quantity of recycled raw materials to meet the needs of potential customers.

“Since our entry the company has not only doubled in size, but became truly international. We strongly believe that the key to unlocking the full potential of the company is strong management which can devote full attention, on the one hand to strategical growth and development to continue its development and staying competitive and on the other to managing day to day operational activities to excel at efficiency and client satisfaction. Kaspars joining the team will allow to separate the strategical and operational management in the team with the goal to achieve sustainable future growth,” says Deimante Korsakaite, Partner at INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund, Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of the JSC PET Baltija and Member of the Supervisory Board of the JSC Eco Baltia.