RIGA - The Latvian-based tech-firm SAF Tehnika announced last week that it would make its first public offering on the Riga Stock Exchange, after having received approval from the Latvian Finance and Capital Market Commission.
"We have a clear wish to see SAF Tehnika listed on the Riga Stock Exchange. However, a listing is an operation that depends on two sides, the emitent and the investors," Allan Martinson, CEO of Microlink, the parent company of SAF Tehnika, said at a conference in Tallinn.
The Riga Stock Exchange said it planned to release information concerning the public trading of SAF Tehnika on May 6.
The Riga-based tech firm was formed in 1999 by the merger of two smaller tech companies, SAF and Fortech, both working with microwave radio development.
Microlink, the largest tech firm in the Baltic states, owns 51 percent of SAF Tehnika.
A decision about whether to list the company on the exchange was expected within one or two weeks, Martinson added. He declined to comment on the identity of possible investors and the offering price of the 500,000 shares that will go on sale. The initial asking price was expected to be 1 lat (1.5 euro) per share.
SAF Tehnika currently provides wireless connections for voice and data transfers. The software and services they offer are used by banks, mobile phone operators and Internet providers. In total, the company owns over 130 different products and claims to have almost a 2 percent market share world wide on point-to-point radio links.
The company's partners and distributors are active in over 30 countries across Western and Eastern Europe, as well as CIS countries. Recent growth has also taken place in China.
Earlier this month, Microlink announced its intention to acquire the Norwegian-based telecommunications group Viking Telecom and their subsidiary Viking Micro-wave, a company with technology and personnel that would compliment SAF Tehnika.
The proposed acquisition was hailed by Normunds Bergs, head of SAF Tehnika. Bergs called the possibility a "turning point" since its procurements were usually from Western to Eastern Europe and not the other way around.
Business has been good for Microlink, which recently posted record earnings. Microlink's main shareholders are the Baltic Republics Fund (26 percent), Baltic Investment Fund (20 percent), Astro Holding (16 percent), executives and employees (15 percent) and founders (15 percent).
