Grant Thornton Baltic provided consultation to OptiPRO OÜ, which operates a retail chain of optometry stores under the brand Pro Optika and acquired the holding company of the Pere Optika chain, Optiland Eesti OÜ. After receiving a merger permit from the Competition Authority, the transaction was completed on June 10, 2024, and OptiPRO OÜ acquired a stake in Optiland Eesti OÜ.
Signing of the purchase-sale agreement
Photo: Kerli Nõmm
According to Bruno Lauri, member of the management board of the Estonian-owned family business OptiPRO, the transaction will give the company an opportunity to expand its product portfolio by adding well-known international brands, 33 stores and the chain’s services and assets. “Pro Optika and Pere Optika will continue to operate under separate trademarks to offer a wide variety of optometry products for different consumer groups. The transaction’s economic benefit for us is related to the economy of scale from larger operating volumes and saving in various support services costs,” said Lauri.
Grant Thornton Baltic’s transaction advisory team provided buy-side leadership for the transaction process starting from day 1 to the acquisition of the share on June 10th 2024. We supported Pro Optika at the first negotiations, preparing the offer and conducting cost-benefit analysis (including evaluating the synergies from the transaction), performing due diligence, negotiating the price mechanism and conditions of the purchase and sale agreement (SPA) and later preparing the transaction documentation until the finalizing the transaction.
The head of financial advisory at Grant Thornton Baltic, Erik Suits, noted that OptiPRO has been a longstanding accounting and consultation service client for Grant Thornton. “Our years-long relationship is a great illustration of Grant Thornton’s mission to be a trusted advisor and partner in every stage of a company’s life cycle, translating into peace of mind and success for clients. The current stage in the life cycle presented Pro Optika the opportunity to use M&A transaction to grow and offer market leader Instrumentarium Optika more substantial competition,” said Suits.
“Advising OptiPRO on this transaction was something that we grew fond of, since we were involved from the beginning and we supported the company in all facets during and after the transaction. I would like to single out Bruno Lauri as a superb CEO and business mind who was a great partner for our transaction advisory team throughout the process – he asked good questions, did not get flustered at tense junctures and trusted the transaction advisors at critical moments. We sincerely feel that under the leadership of Lauri, Pro Optika and Pere Optika will continue to compete successfully and grow on the Estonian optometry market,” said Suits.
Project team: The transaction process was led by Grant Thornton Baltic’s Head of Financial Advisory Erik Suits and Head of Legal Advisory, Partner Kristel Tiits, with important contributions coming from Head of Tax Advisory Kristjan Järve and, from the transaction advisors’ team, Uljana Feldman, Artur Suits, Eve Lille, Arnold Vahtra, Getriin Riimand, Nadežda Mihhailitšenko and Eliis Mets.
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