While Estonia has experienced significant economic development during the past three decades, its capital markets have not grown in the same way, with the supply for investors seeking to purchase publicly traded equity of Estonian companies being limited to date.
However, this is set to change: with a view to sparking further interest in capital markets activity in Estonia, the Estonian government has begun to contemplate the privatization of stakes in several state owned entities. The 2018 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. This memorandum outlines some of the key international and Estonian legal considerations arising in such a transaction.