Consolis Group, a holding of US investment company Bain Capital, announced on August 6 the signing of a purchase agreement with Estonia’s TMB Group, a producer of concrete elements in the Baltic countries and Finland.
The transaction will be 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,” said TMB CEO Jaan Luts, who also owned one third of company shares. “Consolis Group is undoubtedly an industry leader that is playing a key role in the fast-changing European concrete market.”
Luts said that the transaction would open up much wider opportunities for the Estonian unit and the Estonian economy, as Consolis was the biggest player in the field in Europe. 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 required the approvals of the competition authorities of Estonia, Latvia, Finland and Sweden.
Consolis CEO Nicolas Yatzimirsky said that by acquiring TMB Group, Consolis was 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 the further sharing of best practices,” Yatzimirsky said. “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.”
TMB Group, the former Tartu Maja Betoontoote AS, was established in 1961. The company had sales of over EUR 120 million in 2017, and it employs a workforce of almost 500 people. Its net profit totaled EUR 14.5 million in 2017 and EUR 5.3 million 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, while the names of the owners of the remaining shares do not appear in 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 shares each.
Two years ago, TMB acquired the Finnish prefabricated concrete products maker Betonimestarit OY, creating a company with annual sales of almost EUR 100 million. The owners of Betonimestarit became minority shareholders of TMB as a result of the transaction. (ERR/Business World Magazine)
