Nasdaq Welcomes UAB 15min to the Nasdaq Baltic First North Market
Vilnius/Riga/Tallinn, Nasdaq Baltic Market, December 11, 2024 – Nasdaq (NDAQ) announces that bonds issued by UAB 15min have been admitted to trading on the Nasdaq Baltic First North market by Nasdaq Vilnius as of today, December 11.
UAB 15min raised EUR 16 million (exceeding the EUR 15 million target) through a public bond offering in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Each bond has a nominal value of EUR 1,000, an annual coupon rate of 9.8% with quarterly payments, and matures on October 28, 2026.
The company's bond offer attracted 713 investors, who oversubscribed to EUR 18.2 million worth of bonds. The bonds were subscribed by 542 Lithuanian, 129 Estonian, and 42 Latvian investors.
The funds raised from investors will be used to refinance the acquisition of M-1 Group’s radio stations and to further invest in the development of digital media.
„Congratulations to 15min Group on this historic achievement as the first Lithuanian-owned media group to go public through a bond listing! This milestone not only underscores your leadership but also highlights your commitment to innovation and transparency. By opening new avenues for growth and collaboration, you are setting an example for the media industry in Lithuania and Baltics. Best wishes for your exciting journey—may it inspire others to follow in your pioneering path!” says Gediminas Varnas, president of Nasdaq Vilnius.
„As is often the case in the media industry, the issuance and listing of bonds by the 15min Group demonstrates its inherent leadership, risk tolerance, openness to innovation, and experimentation. I am pleased that so many investors have shown confidence in the media sector and the well-known brands that many have grown up with and have an emotional connection to. Our team puts a lot of heart into ensuring that the audience receives accurate news, good music, and interesting human stories on time every day. We plan to continue this—and even stronger,” said Tomas Balžekas, CEO of 15min Group.
Šiaulių Bankas was the organizer of the public bond issue, while the law firm COBALT acted as legal advisor and is also the certified adviser for the company on the First North market.
UAB 15min, or 15min Group, is a Lithuanian-owned media and digital business group. 15min Group owns 11 brands – the news portal 15min, the radio stations M-1, M-1 Plius, Lietus, M-1 Dance, Laluna, the magazines Žmonės, Ji, Legendos, the news agency BNS, and the advertising agency Reklamos ekspertai.
15min is the second largest news portal in Lithuania with an audience of 1.3 million unique users. M-1 radio station is the most popular radio station in Lithuania with more than 300,000 listeners every day.
The main subsidiaries of the 15min Group are BNS, UAB, M-1, Ultra Vires, UAB, Radijo stotis Laluna, UAB, and Reklamos ekspertai, UAB. The aggregate turnover of these companies in the last financial year amounted to EUR 18.7 million and EBITDA profit amounted to EUR 4.5 million.
15min is a Lithuanian-owned group of companies managed through the holding company 4 Bees. Its shareholders are Tomas Balžekas (59%), Martynas Basokas (24%), Gabrielė Burbienė (10%), and Tomas Bindokas (7%).
Nasdaq First North Market is tailored to support smaller, growing companies that want to raise capital and get the visibility and credibility of being a public company. For investors, First North offers an opportunity to invest in companies that are at an earlier stage of their growth.
Nasdaq Baltic represents the common offering of the Nasdaq Tallinn, Nasdaq Riga, Nasdaq Vilnius securities exchanges as well as Nasdaq CSD. Read more: nasdaqbaltic.com
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Media contacts:
Birutė Jocaitė-Šliurpienė
birute.jocaitesliurpiene@nasdaq.com
+370 61546123
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