DEAL TALKS: Šarunas Alekna of BaltCap talks about Workland acquiring UMA centers in Tallinn and Vilnius
Recently our member BaltCap announced that its portfolio company Workland is acquiring UMA locations in Tallinn and in Vilnius. Nearly 450 workstations will be added to the current 1,200 Workland workstations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. EstVCA DEAL TALKS had a chat with Šarūnas Alekna from BaltCap to hear a bit more about the transaction.
1. What makes Workland unique?
Workland was one of the first to bring the coworking concept to the Baltics in 2016. Since then, it has grown into the largest operator of fully serviced offices and coworking spaces in the market. Workland has found a way to combine the convenience of fully serviced offices with the attractiveness of coworking spaces offering a flexible and cost-efficient office solution perfect for small and medium-sized companies. After acquiring UMA centres in Vilnius and Tallinn, Workland has the widest pan-Baltic network with 10 centres in Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius and Kaunas, offering flexible office solutions for the growing number of Baltic companies.
2. What are the key milestones for the next 12 months for Workland?
Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the office sector in general, with many companies reassessing their needs for office space in the new environment. While the future of offices is uncertain, companies need much more flexibility to ensure an attractive and safe working environment for their employees. Workland will strive to provide such value offering for the market. As the acquisition of UMA centres shows, we are resuming expansion of Workland to bring its services to even more Baltic companies of different sizes. I think in the following years, flexible offices and coworking spaces will graduate from niche choice to mainstream solutions for many companies. To facilitate faster growth, we will be looking for opportunities to partner with real estate owners and developers.
3. How do you assess the impact of their business in the Covid environment?
All Workland centres remained open throughout the Covid-19 related lockdowns. The scale of the operations allowed management to implement all necessary safety features - temperature checks, disinfection, and distancing requirements quickly and effectively, which was not an easy task for most companies in conventional offices. In addition, modern, IT-enabled access control allows Workland to ensure a healthy and safe working environment for its members. Besides Covid-19 related safety features, sustainability, in general, is a relevant cornerstone of our office concept. All Workland centres are environmentally friendly and have modern energy-efficient solutions regarding lighting and heating, meeting room management, catering and printing services.
4. Key advisors of the deal
Cobalt was the legal advisor to Workland while Persense carried out the tax due diligence.
- Read the official news in the acquisition HERE