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Annual Baltic M & A and Private Equity Forum was held in  Riga on 24-25th october.. The forum was organized for the fourth time, and it has become one of the main market participants and counselors meeting place, which gathered 239 participants this year.

The Forum was stated, inter alia, that this year the Baltic M&A market has been in much better shape than the rest of Europe, nevertheless transaction execution time is significantly longer than the pre-crisis period. Investments in the sales process has significantly increased and the probability of a transaction has decreased , an earlier period the business owner got 10 to15 offers compared to the current average of 1-2 offers. Further noted that the Baltics are not an attractive investment destination in a global meaning.The main investors in the Baltics are local investors. Foreign funds consider investments in the Baltic States primarily in value-added, rather than the individual investments.

The main and most positive news sounded in forum was that in near future,by the support of  European Investment Fund  there is coming up new funds in Baltics, involving a total of 200 million euros in venture capital money.

Taking into account the recent past M&A transactions, trends, and information gathered from forum, it may be noted that the structure of  transactions has become more complicated  and longer process, therefore it is important to prepare company, more thoroughly and focused for sale.

The company pre-sale preparations were discussed in more detail on 11th october in seminar organized by Äripäev, Deloitte Estonia and Investment Agency, Three steps to a successful sale of the company.'' Investment Agency´s partner Illar Kaasik shared tips on how to prepare the company for sale and presented opportunities for increasing company´s value in sales process. In addition this presentation gave an overview of buyers and investors interests of company's purchasing process and tips on making company more attractive for potential buyers. Participants were also given further advise on company´s valuation.                                             

Material is available at:http://seminar.aripaev.ee/?SeminarID=d54ff776-bad7-4f71-b2c8-1f265cddf909 .

M&A transactions in the area in April to September for 2013