While Estonia has experienced significant economic development during the past three decades, its capital markets have not grown in the same way. The market capitalisation of Tallinn Stock Exchange (the country’s only regulated market) is approx. EUR 2.6 billion1 (corresponding to only approx. 10% of GDP, one of the lowest ratios in the EU)2. With only 15 companies currently listed on the main equity list of Nasdaq Tallinn, the supply for investors seeking to purchase publicly traded equity of Estonian companies has to date been limited. To tackle the above concerns and spark further interest in capital markets activity in Estonia, the Estonian government has begun to contemplate the privatisation of minority stakes in several state-owned entities. The IPO of Tallinna Sadam (the Port of Tallinn), on which Cleary Gottlieb and Sorainen acted as international and Estonian counsel (respectively) to the underwriters, was the first such project. Successfully completed in June 2018, it involved a public offering to retail investors located in Estonia and an international offering to institutional investors, including in the United States.
