Lithuanian retailer Maxima Grupė has secured €40m investment from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for its €300m five-year bond issue.
The EBRD’s investment in a corporate debut bond issued by Maxima Grupė will, in turn, support capital markets development in the Baltic States.
The company plans to list the bond issue on the Euronext Dublin and Nasdaq Vilnius securities exchanges.
The raised capital will be used to refinance short-term financing for the takeover of Polish retailer Emperia Holding, which completed earlier this year, according to Maxima Grupė.
The acquisition will considerably boost the Lithuanian retailer’s regional presence, while also fostering global trade by providing more local suppliers access to the Baltic states and Polish markets.
Maxima Grupė is one of the leading retail chains in the Baltic states. Its network comprises more than 1,000 stores across the Baltic states, Poland, and Bulgaria.
It manages the Maxima retail chain in the Baltic States, the Stokrotka and Aldik chains in Poland. The company also owns a T-Market chain in Bulgaria and e-grocer Barbora with a presence in Lithuania and Latvia.
EBRD said that the latest transaction comes after the recent capital market deals where the bank invested €30m into each of the two green bonds issued by Lithuanian utilities company Lietuvos Energija in 2017 and 2018.