Royalton acquires LITCARGUS, Lithuanian’s leading ground handling company

Vilnius, 10 March 2011 Royalton Capital Investors II L.P., a private equity fund focused on making investments in Central and Eastern Europe, announced that it acquired today a 100% stake in Litcargus UAB, Lithuania’s leading ground handling company, from Cerberus Holdings Ltd. The acquisition of Litcargus marks Royalton’s first investment in Lithuania and second in the Baltic States. Mr. Nigel P. Williams, the Managing Partner at Royalton Partners said: "The acquisition of Litcargus is fully consistent with Royalton’s strategy of taking control positions in companies active in the non-tradable space in Central and Eastern Europe. The company is involved in all aspects of ground handling, serving airlines and their customers, both passengers and freight. We look forward to working with Litcargus’ management team in continuing to provide airlines with first class ground handling support in Lithuania, with a plan to selectively expand in neighbouring countries." Since its establishment in 1993, Litcargus has been managed by Mr. Vidmantas Vaškys. Mr. Vaškys said: "The Company is in a good shape now. We have met challenging goals in the local market and, with support from our new investor, are ready to go to the next stage by expanding to other markets within Central and Eastern Europe." Marcin Benbenek, the Royalton partner responsible for the transaction stated: "Royalton is particularly happy that the current management team has agreed to purchase shares in the company and will stay to help us implement Litcargus’s ambitious development plans. The aviation business was one of the hardest hit by the recent economic turmoil in Lithuania, leading to the loss of the national carrier, but we believe the sector is poised to rebound as the word economy continues to recover." SEB Enskilda Lithuania was the sole financial advisor of Cerberus Holdings Ltd. Valerij Judin, Associated Director of SEB Enskilda Lietuva noted that "we ran a very competitive sale process and today we welcome a reputable financial investor entering Lithuania. This is a clear sign in the recovering M&A market of Lithuania and we are more than certain that the trend will continue." Royalton was advised by Tark Grunte Sutkiene (legal), PricewaterhouseCoopers (financial and tax) and Exambela Consulting (commercial). Cerberus Holdings Ltd. was advised by Motieka & Audzevičius (legal). NOTES FOR THE EDITORS: Litcargus, UAB is the first independent privately owned ground handling company in Lithuania established in 1993. The company operates in Vilnius and Kaunas International Airports and offers a full range of ground handling services, such as passenger and baggage handling, ramp services, cargo and mail handling, also ticketing and GSA Service. The company employs 317 people. In 2010, Litcargus serviced over 1.5 million passengers and handled over 3000 tons of cargo. www.litcargus.lt Royalton Capital Investors II L.P. is a private equity fund focused on making private equity investments in the EU accession countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The fund was established in 2007. Royalton Partners, the advisor to the fund, is a private equity, mid-cap development capital and buy-out manager, specializing in the new EU member and candidate states. Royalton Partners also manages Royalton Capital Investors. Nigel Williams and Ivan Vohlmuth, the founding partners, have been working together since 1990 and manage the firm from offices in Warsaw, Prague and Zurich. www.royalton-partners.com SEB Enskilda is the Investment Banking arm of the SEB Group, founded by SEB in London in 1982 as Enskilda Securities. SEB Enskilda has offices in all Nordic and Baltic countries as well as London, New York, and Frankfurt. Employing around 450 Corporate Finance and Equities professionals SEB Enskilda is the market leader in the provision of specialist advice in Mergers and Acquisitions and Equity Finance, principally in Nordic and Baltic related transactions. www.enskilda.lt