According to Tallinna Sadam’s chief financial officer, Marko Raid, it was difficult to choose the right provider, as all the bids made following the announcement of the tender had been very strong, and all of them had included joint ventures between Estonian and international firms.

The winning bid was submitted by American consulting firm STJ Advisors and Estonian-based Superia Corporate Finance. The deciding features of the bid had been its price along with the fact that Superia knew the Estonian and Baltic markets very well.

What also mattered according to Raid is the fact that STJ Advisors was recently involved in the listing of Global Ports Holding, an undertaking comparable to taking Tallinna Sadam public.

“Thanks to this they have a fresh and very detailed overview of investors’ expectations and an advantage just in the business area of ports,” Raid added.

The role of STJ Advisors and Superia is that of an independent consultant advising the company on the way to its initial public offering, or IPO. It also supervises the process and helps the supervisory board, management, and owners of the company about to be listed.

The next steps for Tallinna Sadam are the submission of a detailed plan of the impending IPO to the government, expected for September. After that, the company will start looking for a financial institution to conduct the IPO.

That up to 30 percent of Tallinna Sadam’s stock will be listed publicly is part of the coalition agreement of the Center Party, the Social Democrats, and the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union (IRL). The plan is to get the port operator listed at the Tallinn stock exchange no later than by the end of the first half of 2018.