Nasdaq Tallinn
Press release

Nasdaq Welcomes Magnetic MRO to Baltic First North Market

Tallinn/Riga/Vilnius, Nasdaq Baltic Market, February 14, 2019

Nasdaq (NDAQ) announces that the bonds of Magnetic MRO, an aviation maintenance company headquartered in Estonia, were admitted to trading to the Nasdaq Baltic First North by Nasdaq Tallinn as of today, February 14.

Magnetic MRO offers a full range of commercial airplane maintenance services and has been certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration of the US. The company is headquartered in Estonia, along with multiple locations across the world.

Magnetic MRO carried through a private placement of unsecured bonds and raised EUR 8 million to support company’s growth plans, including financing a strategic acquisition. The nominal value of one bond is 100 euros, coupon rate is 8% per annum and paid out quarterly. The bonds will mature in 3 years. The bonds were subscribed by 70 investors from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 

“Magnetic MRO has gone through a tremendous transformation over the years and – as shown by the titles they’ve won – is now one of the most successful and respected companies in Estonia,” said Kaarel Ots, the CEO of Nasdaq Tallinn. “It is great to see such an ambitious team using First North market to raise capital to fuel its further global expansion. I wish them all the best on their journey as a public company and hope to see them listed on the Main Market in the future.” 

“In the beginning of 2018, Hangxin, an international airplane component maintenance company listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, acquired the shares of Magnetic MRO. This basically means that we have been following the rules of a publicly listed company for almost a year,” said Risto Mäeots, the CEO of Magnetic MRO. “Therefore, listing our bonds on the First North market does not mean we have to change our internal processes, but instead allows Baltic investors to invest in our growth story. We were really happy to see that our bonds were subscribed by investors all across the Baltics and in addition to investment funds and banks, also retail investors subscribed for the bonds.”

Redgate Capital serves as the Certified Adviser for the company on First North. Andrei Zaborski, a partner at Redgate Capital said that Magnetic MRO bond listing on First North is a great news for the local and regional investors. “Magnetic MRO is a strong company with an attractive growth story, and operates in a very interesting and high value-adding global sector,” said Zaborski. “I would advise investors to keep Magnetic MRO on their radar both in terms of potential additional issues or issues of new instruments. First North market serves as a springboard to reach the bigger markets, and at the same time it is a good place for retail investors to get to know the new companies on the market.”

Magnetic MRO offers total technical care for airplanes, and is headquartered in Tallinn Airport. In January 2018, an investment firm BaltCap – the previous owner of Magnetic MRO – sold 100% of its ownership in Magnetic MRO to a Chinese company Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation Technology (Hangxin). This marked and still marks the biggest Chinese investment made into an Estonian company. In 2017, Magnetic MRO’s revenues exceeded EUR 90 million, and net profit was ca EUR 4 million. There are more than 400 employees working in the company. In 2017, Magnetic MRO was chosen the “Company of the Year” and “Exporter of the Year” by Enterprise Estonia.

First North is a multilateral trading facility (MTF) tailored to support smaller, growing companies that want to raise capital and get the visibility and credibility of being a public company. Respectively, for investors, First North offers an opportunity to invest in companies that are in relatively early stages of their growth. First North is an alternative market and is often seen as a first step towards trading on the regulated market.

About Nasdaq 

Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) is a leading global provider of trading, clearing, exchange technology, listing, information and public company services. Through its diverse portfolio of solutions, Nasdaq enables customers to plan, optimize and execute their business vision with confidence, using proven technologies that provide transparency and insight for navigating today's global capital markets. As the creator of the world's first electronic stock market, its technology powers more than 100 marketplaces in 50 countries. Nasdaq is home to over 4,000 total listings with a market value of approximately $12 trillion. To learn more, visit: http://business.nasdaq.com

Nasdaq Baltic represents the common offering of the Nasdaq Tallinn, Nasdaq Riga and Nasdaq Vilnius securities markets as well as Nasdaq CSD. To learn more, visit: nasdaqbaltic.com.

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The matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that are made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about Nasdaq and its products and offerings. We caution that these statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond Nasdaq's control. These factors include, but are not limited to factors detailed in Nasdaq's annual report on Form 10-K, and periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements.

Nasdaq Baltic is a common name for exchanges, regulated markets, alternative markets First North operated by Nasdaq companies in the Baltic states, i.e. Nasdaq Tallinn AS, Nasdaq Riga AS and AB Nasdaq Vilnius.