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Expanding the operations and continuing its development, the environmental services company SIA Eco Baltia vide, which is a part of AS Eco Baltia, the largest environmental and waste management group in the Baltics has completed the acquisition of the street and road maintenance company SIA Pilsētas Eko Serviss through its subsidiary. This provides purchase of 100% shares in the companies SIA Pilsētas Eko Serviss, SIA PES serviss and SIA B 124. For the completion of the transaction, permission of the Latvian Competition Council was received in December.

“While economic situation, rise in production costs and energy prices currently cause additional challenges to every company,it is a valuable time for businesses to seek and implement new efficiency solutions, continue development and strengthen the market positions. By expanding our business portfolio and range of services, we are becoming more competitive with a higher future growth potential. Therefore, Pilsētas Eko Serviss is a very valuable and significant addition to the family of our subsidiaries which will strengthen our leading positions in the field of environmental management”, says Jānis Aizbalts, Chairman of the Board at Eco Baltia vide and Head of the Environmental Services at Eco Baltia.

Founded in 2003, Pilsētas Eko Serviss offers such services as street and road maintenance, water drainage system maintenance and repair works, as well as equipment rental. The company is one of the leading street and road maintenance service providers in Riga and the Greater Riga region. In 2021, revenue of “Pilsētas Eko Serviss” reached 5.7 million euro. The group employs around 80 employees.

“The year 2022 has made history for the Eco Baltia group with several significant company acquisitions which keep moving us closer to the company’s vision – international leader in the field of environmental management and recycling. During the recent two years, we have grown from a local company to a player in the international market, whose pro-forma turnover in 2022 is expected to reach around 240 million euro. This year, we are planning both integration of Pilsētas Eko Serviss into our environmental management segment, as well as consider options related to new acquisitions and further investments into our current companies to improve their efficiency, production capacities and competitiveness”, stresses Māris Simanovičs, Chairman of the Board at Eco Baltia.

No changes in the current cooperation contracts of customers, partners and employees of both parties are planned at this point.

Vytautas Plunksnis, Partner at INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund and Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Eco Baltia”: “As shareholders we have set a goal to develop Eco Baltia as a strong regional leader which is characterised by sustainability promoting entrepreneurship and development of circular economy. With this acquisition, the expansion of services in Eco Baltia group’s ever-growing portfolio will help to bring additional value both for customers, employees and investors, and further consolidate the group’s growth potential.”

The transaction was conducted by AS Latvijas Zaļais punkts, a subsidiary of Eco Baltia vide. Luminor bank provided financing for the acquisition. “We are pleased with our successful long-term cooperation and opportunity to support further growth of Eco Baltia. By setting sustainable goals and implementing principles of circular economy, company provides great potential for further development in the field of environmental management and recycling. In terms of turnover Eco Baltia is already the largest industry’s company in the Baltics, providing a full cycle of waste management. We hope that by expanding operations and providing new services, the company will open up for even wider development opportunities,” says Ilze Zoltnere, Head of Corporate Banking at Luminor bank in Latvia.

Nordic Plast, one of the leading polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) recyclers in the Baltics, belonging to Eco Baltia, the largest Baltic environmental and waste management group, has invested €2.8 million into a new sorting line. The new line is automated and provides high-precision pre-sorting and purification of raw materials which will all lead to an upwards of 30% increase in Nordic Plast’s recycling capacities and provide a significant boost to production quality and efficiency.

“Our main goal is to ensure the highest possible plastic packaging recycling rate and quality, thus replacing virgin materials used in packaging. So far, our packaging sorting operations depended quite largely on manual work, which, although ensures high quality, limits faster increase in production capacities. Thanks to the new automated line, our production capacities will increase up to 300 tons or 30% monthly. Furthermore, this investment will help us to build up both efficiency and our international competitiveness, and help ensure a consistent flow of production of the highest quality production for our customers”, explains Andris Trumars, Director of Nordic Plast.

The new equipment is intended for processing materials of various purity, thus also promoting recycling of more difficult to work with packaging streams which have been lagging behind in the industry thus far. With this investment, Nordic Plast will further strengthen its contribution towards the fulfilment of the plastic packaging recycling goals imposed in the European Union which are set to raise the recycling level from the current 22% to 50% of the total volume of the marketed plastic packaging by 2025.

“Eco Baltia’s mission is to find value in things that others already consider unnecessary. That’s why we treat waste as a resource to create new materials and promote circular economy. Therefore, we are constantly developing options to recycle a wider range of packaging and other materials. Investments in the modernisation of Nordic Plast is a significant step to achieve this goal and creates foundation for the development of new recycled products. In parallel, we are continuing our work on other major development projects, providing significant investments in the improvement of efficiency and competitiveness of Eco Baltia group companies which prove themselves more and more convincingly beyond the regional level, contributing to the sustainability of the whole Europe”, stresses Māris Simanovičs, Chairman of the Management Board at Eco Baltia.

According to Vytautas Plunksnis, Partner at INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Eco Baltia, the Fund’s strategy is to grow all of its portfolio companies both through add-on acquisitions as well as organically.

“The investment in Nordic Plast’s capacity increase is a great example of this,” says Plunksnis.

Investments in creation of the new Nordic Plast line are partially covered by using the funds received from the European Union fund project “Polymer Recycling Park of the SIA “Nordic Plast”” (No.5.2.1.2/17/A/005).

Pictures of Nordic Plast’s new sorting line: https://failiem.lv/u/cmrxzvmqm

The largest environmental and waste management group in the Baltics AS Eco Baltia plans to execute its first unsecured bond issue in the nearest future. The proceeds from the bond issue will be used for the group’s development projects with the aim of further strengthening its contribution towards promotion of circular economy at the international level.

“Attracting financing in the capital market is a successive step in the further development of Eco Baltia. During the last two years we have restructured our business model, reorganized corporate governance structure, confidently moved towards CO2 neutrality in business and implemented large-scale investment projects that strengthened competitiveness and positions in international markets. Our business operations, goals and ambitions for growth extend well beyond the level of Latvia and even the Baltics. That’s why we are prepared to take the next step and attract financing in the capital market, confirming our development prospects and profitability,” emphasizes Māris Simanovičs, chairman of the board at Eco Baltia.

According to Vytautas Plunksnis, Partner at INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Eco Baltia, the funds raised from investors would be used for acquisitions to achieve the strategic goal of developing the environmental and waste management group as a strong regional leader.

“Listing the bonds on the public market will also undoubtedly increase Eco Baltia’s visibility to investors,” says V. Plunksnis.

The issue of unsecured bonds with short to medium term maturity will be organized in one tranche and the process will be managed by one of the leading financial service providers in the Baltic States – Luminor Bank.

The issue of unsecured bonds is planned as a public offering in the near future subject to market conditions. The bonds are planned to be offered to both private and institutional investors. Bonds will be listed on “First North” alternative market of “Nasdaq Riga” after the placement.