Porta Finance starts operations in the Baltic States

New financial advisory firm Porta Finance is launching its operations in the Baltic States. The new firm is being established by experienced Baltic executives from Nordic investment bank Evli.

The new advisory firm is being established by Aidas Galubickas, Julijus Grigaliūnas and Mikus Janvars who are acquiring the corporate finance operations of Evli Securities. They are all former executives of the Baltic division of Evli who also worked together at Suprema – a Baltic securities firm which merged with Evli in 2002. The Baltic corporate finance team of Evli Securities is joining the three founders at Porta Finance.

“We see robust demand for Baltic corporate finance advisory services. The Baltic states are emerging as a region in Europe attractive for investment and with ambitious companies from the Baltics able and willing to grow internationally through acquisitions in other regions. Our new firm will be even better positioned to serve our clients looking to attract investment from or deploy it to the regions interested in the Baltic countries and vice-versa”, – said Julijus Grigaliūnas, one of the founders of Porta Finance.

According to Maunu Lehtimäki, CEO of Finnish Evli Bank, Evli group is strengthening its wealth management operations in the Baltic region by concentrating its resources to the area of business where we feel the strongest and where we see the most potential. This reorganisation is a natural response to the needs of our clients. We will keep strong ties with Porta Finance, – he said.

Porta Finance professionals accumulated a wealth of experience in mergers and acquisitions as well as capital raising transactions while at Suprema and Evli. They advised clients on several of the most important mergers and acquisitions, financing transactions as well as privatizations in the Baltic states.

Porta Finance professionals advised numerous international and Baltic companies on acquisitions or capital raisings, such as the acquisition of banks in the Baltic countries by SEB and the Vilnius Stock Exchange by “Nasdaq OMX”, an IPO of Ekspress Grupp and subsequent spin-offs by the group. The professionals of the new firm advised the Lithuanian government on attracting a strategic investor to the Visaginas New Nuclear Power Plant, helped privatise the Lithuanian alcohol industry, as well as advised clients on several other transactions in the energy and the utilities sector. They also helped several Baltic firms raise capital through initial public offerings on the Baltic stock exchanges.

Further information:
Julijus Grigaliūnas, Partner, Porta Finance,
Tel: +370 5 254 6714,
julijus.grigaliunas@portafinance.com

Maunu Lehtimäki, CEO, Evli Bank
Tel: +358 (0)9 4766 9304
maunu.lehtimaki@evli.com