Enterprise Investors explores strategic options for Novaturas
Warsaw, 3 November 2017 — Polish Enterprise Fund VI (PEF VI), a private equity fund managed by Enterprise Investors (EI), has announced that owing to delays in securing antimonopoly approval, it has terminated the agreement it signed four months ago with Itaka Holdings concerning the sale of Novaturas, the leading tour operator in the Baltic region.
In 2007 PEF VI acquired a 71% stake in the company, investing in its further growth. Today Novaturas is the leading travel operator in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Its reliability and reputation, coupled with the Baltic States’ good macroeconomic position and growing consumption, have helped Novaturas become the number one market player in the region. The company’s revenues in 2017 are expected to increase by 25% y/y to c. EUR 125 million, in line with the growth in the number of trips and tickets sold. This will translate to EBITDA of c. EUR 10 million. The outlook for 2018 is equally encouraging – early bookings for next summer are currently three times above the company’s record high.
“We concluded that in view of Novaturas’s dynamic growth and excellent financial results, the delay in securing antimonopoly approval was undesirable for the company and its shareholders,” said Sebastian Król, a partner at Enterprise Investors, who is responsible for this company. “As we could not predict the timing and outcome of the regulatory process we decided to terminate the agreement with Itaka and explore other strategic options available to Novaturas. In particular, we will now consider the potential for a flotation on the Warsaw and Vilnius stock exchanges,” he added.
Commenting on EI’s decision Linas Aldonis, CEO of Novaturas, said: “The company has a sound financial basis and good outlook for the years to come. I truly believe that Novaturas has all it takes to attract financial investors and float successfully.”
Enterprise Investors is one of the largest private equity firms in Central and Eastern Europe. Active since 1990, the firm has raised nine funds with total capital exceeding EUR 2.5 billion. These funds have invested EUR 1.8 billion in 139 companies across a range of sectors and exited 124 companies with total gross proceeds of EUR 3.5 billion.
For further information please contact:
Sebastian Król, Partner
Anna Czywczyńska, Communications & Public Affairs Director
tel.: +48 22 458 8500
www.ei.com.pl