Energy, Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Mergers and take-overs

Established in 2009, for the designing, construction and maintenance of electricity networks across Estonia, Võrguehitus will begin to operate under the name Leonhard Weiss Energy AS.

Increasingly, Eesti Energia’s strategy has focused on the oil shale business. According to Sandor Liive, Chairman of the Management Board of Eesti Energia, the company has therefore exited several non-priority businesses in recent years. “We wish to concentrate on what is truly our strength and where want to and can invest vigorously going forward, in order to grow the value of our company. Accordingly, we sold Televõrk, a provider of mobile Internet access, to a telecommunications company and our holding in the Estlink submarine cable to the main network companies responsible for transnational transmission capacities. Last June, we signed a contract for the sale of Võrguehitus so that the company might have an owner focused on the designing and construction of networks, taking the business forward,” Liive said.

According to Alexander Schneider, Chairman of the Management Board of Leonhard Weiss Baltic Holding, it is a very important step for the company, enabling its Baltic arm to advance strategically. “Eesti Energia Võrguehitus AS is the third venture in the Baltic arm of our company, alongside Leonhard Weiss RTE AS (Railway) and Leonhard Weiss Viater Ehitus AS (Road). We expect plenty of synergy from the combined operations of all three companies,” Schneider explained.

The new owner of Võrguehitus, Weiss Baltic Holding, a subsidiary of the large German company Leonhard Weiss, has been building and maintaining railways in Estonia since 2011, whilst also providing various construction services in Germany. Founded as a family business in Germany in 1900, Leonhard Weiss currently employs a total of 3833 employees, with 250 located in Estonia. For the majority of the nearly 259 employees at Võrguehitus, the change in the company’s ownership will entail no significant changes. Employment contracts will be transferred to the new owner as they are, given that the company is being sold as a whole.

The contract for the sale of Võrguehitus was signed on 26 June 2014, whereupon conditions and permission for concentration were received from the Estonian Competition Authority.