Banks, Estonia, Financial Services, Good for Business, Latvia, Logistics, Transport

In the transaction that was finalized in June, Nordnet OU received a loan from Citadele to buy 66 percent of its own shares from inactive shareholders and refinance existing obligations, the company announced on Monday. 

Nordnet's manager Madis Laansalu said that when some time ago the company had a wish to further expand its operations, the majority shareholders differed on the plan. The loan from  Citadele allowed to arrive at a solution suitable for all sides.

"We had different preferences as to where to make investments in the future, and the loan enabled us to meet the wishes of all the parties involved," Laansalu said. 

Laansalu said the company intends to use the money to increase capacity.

"In light of the coronavirus, we apparently won't start building right away and will wait for a more favorable moment, but we will continue active work on planning and designing," the manager said, adding that while the volumes of goods passing through the company's warehouse did decline due to the virus, the reduction wasn't too big.

Citadele Group is a Latvian financial group headquartered in Riga, whose subsidiaries and branches are active in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Switzerland. The value of Citadele Group's net loan portfolio at the end of 2019 was approximately 1.58 billion euros.

Ripplewood Advisors LLC, bringing together international investors, is the biggest shareholder of Citadele with a holding of 75 percent plus one share. The remaining shares belong to the  European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).