Construction, EU – Baltic States, Good for Business, Industry, Markets and Companies, Mergers and take-overs

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals. The closing of the transaction is expected by early 2019, TMB and Consolis said in a press release.

"TMB Group has reached a stage of its development where the next phase of growth could not have been achieved without a strategic partner. Consolis Group is undoubtedly an industry leader that is playing a key role in the fast changing European concrete market," Jaan Luts, CEO of TMB and owner of one-third of the shares in the company, said.

Luts told LETA/BNS that the transaction will open up much wider opportunities for the Estonian unit and the Estonian economy, as Consolis is the biggest player in the field in Europe. Luts said that according to his knowledge, Consolis is not planning any major changes in the group and the heads of all manufacturing units will go on working in their present jobs. He also said that the transaction requires the approvals of the competition authorities of Estonia, Latvia, Finland and Sweden.

Nicolas Yatzimirsky, CEO of Consolis, said that by acquiring TMB Group, Consolis is demonstrating its ambition to further strengthen its presence in key European markets.

"They bring valuable industrial know-how and our respective teams will mutually benefit from further best practices sharing. TMB and its subsidiaries in Finland, Estonia and Latvia have built long-term relationships with their clients. Combining our strengths will benefit customers through an extended and wider range of solutions and services," Yatzimirsky said.

TMB Group, the former Tartu Maja Betoontoote AS, was established in 1961. The company had sales of over 120 mln euros in 2017 and it employs a workforce of almost 500 people. Its net profit was 14.5 mln euros in 2017 and 5.3 million euros in 2016.

Luts and Vallot Mangus, chairman of the supervisory board of TMB, each own 32.2% of TMB. Mika Saarelainen, a Finnish national, owns 11.73% of the shares, whereas the names of the owners of the remaining shares do not appear from the Commercial Register.

Mangus and Luts bought a controlling stake in the company in 2012 from the large construction companies Skanska, YIT and Merko, which used to own 25%  of the shares each.

Two years ago, TMB acquired the Finnish prefabricated concrete products maker Betonimestarit OY, creating a company with annual sales of almost 100 million euros. The owners of Betonimestarit became minority shareholders of TMB as a result of the transaction.