INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund-backed FERN Group completes EUR 8 million public bond offering
FERN Group, a foremost engineering solutions group in Lithuania and a portfolio company of the INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund, the leading private equity fund in the Baltic region, completed a public offering of EUR 8 million of bonds. The bonds with a maturity of 2 years were offered to retail and institutional investors in the Baltics.
“This is the first time we’ve gone to the capital market, and the successful placement of the bond issue shows that investors have trust in our group and believe in what we’re doing,” says Vilija Zapalskienė, the CEO of FERN Group and its subsidiaries.
Orders were received for EUR 9.522 million. A total of 406 investors acquired the FERN Group bonds; the majority (74%) are from Lithuania. FERN Group will pay 9% annual interest on the bonds, the rate determined in an auction on the Nasdaq Baltic stock exchange. Interest will be paid to investors quarterly. The bonds are secured by an EUR 8 million surety of the INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund.
The group publicly offered the bonds from 29 August to 11 September. Šiaulių Bankas distributed the bonds in the Baltic markets.
“It’s encouraging to see to see more companies incorporating capital markets into their financing strategies. FERN Group’s successful bond placement shows the markets truly have a lot to offer. This securities offering not only allowed the company to explore its potential with market participants, but also demonstrated the strong trust and recognition from investors,” says Eglė Džiugytė, Head of Markets at Šiaulių Bankas.
The group will use most of the money raised from investors (EUR 5 million) to refinance existing commitments to Lithuania’s State Investment Management Agency (VIVA).
“FERN Group will continue to focus mainly on stable growth and the achievement of its strategic objectives,” says INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund Partner Vidas Venckus, a member of the FERN Group’s Supervisory Council.
In the near future, the company plans to submit an application to the Nasdaq Vilnius Stock Exchange for the listing of its bonds on the First North alternative securities market.
Cobalt is the legal advisor for the FERN Group bonds. The audit firm Audifina is the bondholders’ trustee.
The FERN Group, a leading engineering solutions group in Lithuania, includes the companies FERN EPC, FERN Production and Montuotojas, which perform general contracting, manufacturing and assembly activities. The group has 65 years of experience in the market and each year completes more than 250 projects involving industrial, energy, logistics, oil, wood processing, chemical, paper, food, and agricultural facilities. In 2023, the group had consolidated revenue of approximately EUR 30 million.
About the INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund
With a size of EUR 165 million, the INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund is the leading private equity fund in the Baltics. Its anchor investor is the European Investment Fund (EIF).
The EIF, which is a part of the European Investment Bank, has committed EUR 30 million with the support of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (a key element of the Investment Plan for Europe, or the Junker Plan) while also allocating resources from the Baltic Innovation Fund, a “fund of funds” initiative developed in cooperation with the governments of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The initiative aims to increase capital investment in high-growth potential small and medium-sized enterprises in the Baltics.
The fund focused on investments in the Baltic countries and neighbouring regions such as Poland, the Nordics, and Central Europe. The INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund has already invested in a diversified portfolio of nine companies. That includes companies operating in the food processing, healthcare, medical rehabilitation, civil engineering, plastic recycling, environmental management, and veterinary services sectors, as well as in the manufacturing of cosmetics and hygiene products.
The fund is managed by INVL Asset Management, the leading alternative asset manager in the Baltics and part of the Invalda INVL group, which has been in the investment management business for more than 30 years. The group’s companies manage or have under supervision more than EUR 1.5 billion of assets under management across multiple asset classes including private equity, forests and agricultural land, renewable energy, real estate, and private debt. The group’s activities also include family office services in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, management of pension funds in Latvia, and investments in global third-party funds.
The person authorised to provide additional information:
Vidas Venckus
INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund partner
vidas.venckus@invl.com