Expert's View Expert coverage from Tallinn: FORDATA at Baltic M&A & Private Equity Forum 2025

In May 2025, Piotr Miszczyk, a member of FORDATA’s sales team, represented the company at the prestigious Baltic M&A and Private Equity Forum event in Tallinn. It was not only an opportunity to deepen knowledge of the Baltic transaction market, but also an intensive time of building relationships with key players in the M&A and private equity industry.

The following is an expert summary of the visit – from the perspective of the market, the VDR sector and strategic discussions with representatives of major consulting firms.

From a macroeconomic perspective, the Baltics (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) are emerging from a period of stagnation and are looking to the future with growing optimism:

• Lithuania: one of the growth leaders in the EU, with GDP +2.5% in 2024 and a projected +3.0% in 2025. Strong activity in the TMT and energy sectors creates a solid foundation for the development of the transaction market.
• Latvia: signs of improvement – largest number of M&A deals in the region in 2024. GDP growth forecast for 2025 is +2.2%. Dominance of classic industries as subjects of mergers.
• Estonia: despite a recession in 2024 (-0.5%), forecasts for 2025 are most optimistic: +3.1%. The increased number of transactions (from 59 to 82 year-on-year) and the tripling of cumulative transaction values indicate a strong market rebound.

The common denominator across the region is stabilizing inflation and an expected drop in interest rates, creating a favorable environment for investors and transaction advisors.

In numerous conversations with representatives of leading consulting teams and law firms, a common theme regularly emerges: trust takes years to build, but it can be lost in a second. They point out that the success of a transaction increasingly depends on the quality of the tools used to manage information – and whether they give both parties comfort and predictability.

Experts also point out that customer expectations have changed over the past few years – today it is no longer enough to simply “send documents.” It is necessary to be able to efficiently track progress during Due Diligence, access data analytics, granular management of user rights, as well as instant response to incidents or questions from the other party. In this context, the VDR becomes more than a technology – it becomes a partner in building trust.

There are clear signals from the forum about where PE/VC funds are headed today:

• Energy Transition and Life Sciences: the biggest winners of 2024, particularly relevant to the Baltics (cleantech in Estonia, biopharma in Lithuania).
• Fintech: losing ground – reducing the number and value of rounds.
• DefenceTech and AI: priority sectors in the context of the EU and the growing importance of cyber security. FORDATA supports projects in this area, such as the VDR Frankenburg.
• RES and infrastructure: a strategically important sector with long-term capital inflows.

It is also worth noting that local exchanges remain too shallow, which translates into the dominance of private buyouts and so-called minority exits – smaller transactions that are often completed without the use of a VDR, but offer the potential for further exploitation of the system.

The Baltic M&A & Private Equity Forum 2025 showed that despite global challenges, the Baltic region is back on a growth path, and local transaction markets are gaining momentum. Also evident is the growing importance of quality processes, tools and partnerships in the successful execution of transactions. A common thread ran through the conversations: the professionalization of the market is progressing, and technology – while still treated as a support – is increasingly becoming one of the pillars of trust between the parties. Tallinn left not only with a solid set of data and trends, but also a sense that the shift toward greater transparency and digitization is becoming a permanent part of the M&A landscape in the region.