Sorainen has advised Ringier Axel Springer Media AG on Estonian law aspects of its acquisition of CV Keskus, an operator of the Estonian cvkeskus.ee, Latvian cvmarket.lv, and Lithuanian cvmarket.lt job classified sites.
Established in Estonia in 2000, CV Keskus expanded to Latvia and Lithuania in 2004. The company has been owned by the HeadHunter Group since 2007. According to Sorainen, "the job classifieds group reaches a total of over 1.8 million monthly visitors [and] it publishes over 6000 job ads monthly and currently provides access to a live database of close to 1 million active CVs."
Says Mark Dekan, CEO of Ringier Axel Springer Media AG: “With the expansion of our job classifieds business into the Baltics, we are strategically entering this high growth region. The Baltic countries are among the most digitized economies in the EU. Strong GDP growth will also drive the growth of the HR services industry. This will increase the demand for recruitment services and have a positive effect on the job classifieds segment. We will build on the strong expertise in classifieds that lies in our Group and with our shareholders.”
CEO Povilas Kytra, who has worked with the group for the past ten years, remains in his role after the acquisition. He commented that: “I am very much looking forward to combining the strength of our group with the experience and know-how of Ringier Axel Springer and to further developing our offer in the Baltic region.”
The Sorainen regional transaction team supporting Ringier Axel Springer Media AG in the due diligence phase as well as in negotiating and executing the transaction was led by Estonian Partner Toomas Prangli and included Estonian Senior Associate Piret Lappert, Latvian Senior Associate Renate Purvinska, and Lithuanian Senior Associate Jonas Kiauleikis.
