Eversheds Sutherland Bitāns participated in the development of EU support fund program of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Ministry of Economy to help small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) access capital markets.

According to the Ministry of Economy, this will be the first such program in the Baltics approved by the Cabinet of Ministersand and implemented by the Central Finance and Contracting Agency (CFLA) once every quarter.

The support program will be implemented as a pilot project for this EU planning period. The plan includes one million euros, including 0.8 million euros for share issues and 0.2 million euros for debt securities. The support will cover 50% of costs in the form of a grant.

The plan aims to support 20 SMEs over the next three years. Support will be granted to help enterprises with the various costs related to entering capital markets, such as:

• raising capital
• preparing emission prospectus
• preparing offering documentation or merchant description
• in-depth research
• hiring a certified consultant
• legal, financial, tax, auditor, certified consultant consultations

Program participants will have to secure successful entry into the Nasdaq Riga regulated secondary securities market or the First North alternative stock exchange no later than two years after signing the cooperation contract. A successful entry will be considered an initial public offering of at least 500 000 euros in any Nasdaq Riga regulated capital market listing.

More information is available here.