Risk factors characteristic of the company and its portfolio businesses

General risk
 

The value of investments into the Company can fluctuate significantly in the short term, depending on the situation in the market. Investments into the Company should be made for a long term in order that the shareholder could avoid the risk of short-term price fluctuations.

Redemption of the Shares of the Company is limited, i.e. a shareholder cannot demand that the Company or the Management Company, which took over its management, would redeem the Shares. But a shareholder of the Company has a possibility to sell Shares of the Company in the secondary market as it is indicated in Articles 82 – 84 of the Articles of Association, incorporated by reference to the Prospectus.  

Risk of the management and human resources

The success of the Company’s investments will largely depend on heads of companies managed by the Company (directly or indirectly), also on decisions taken by persons in the Management Company who are responsible for management of the Company and on experience and capabilities of the said persons. There is no guarantee that the same employees will continue managing companies managed by the Company (directly or indirectly), as well as the Management Company throughout the whole Term of Activities of the Company.  

Transactions with related parties

There are quite a few transactions with related parties among the Company and its Portfolio Companies. Detailed information about such transactions is presented in Section 4.13 of the Prospectus. Following applicable taxation legislation, transactions with related parties must be conducted at arm’s length (i.e. independent and on an equal footing). In spite of the fact that the Management uses all efforts in order to ensure the conformity with the above-mentioned standard, a theoretical taxation risk remains here, i.e. the risk that applicable taxes will be calculated according to prices applicable at arm’s length in case it was determined that certain transactions were conducted disregarding this principle, also the risk that relevant fines and default interest will be imposed. Besides, neither the Company nor its Portfolio Companies have approved their pricing policy.  

Success of former, current and future investment projects

The Company carried out investment projects of large scope in the past and can carry them out in the future. Though the Management Company and its employees, as well as the employees of companies managed by the Company (directly or indirectly), when forecasting investments, rely on all the information and analytical resources they have, there is no guarantee that all the information, which was relied on when planning investments, was full and correct. Besides, there is no guarantee that investment plans and investments will earn the expected or planned return or that the investment will not cost more than planned. If the investment projects which are being carried out or planned investment projects turn out to be worse than expected, if the return on these projects is less than planned or if their price turns out to be more than planned, this can have a significant adverse effect on the Issuer’s activities, its financial situation and performance. Also, there is no guarantee that the current investment projects related to increase of the Portfolio companies’ capacities, introduction of new products and/or technologies will meet the needs of the Portfolio companies’ customers.

Issuer’s business can be adversely affected by loss of major customers

Though the Company is not dependent on any one major customer or their group, still loss of one or several of them and inability to substitute other similar customers for the lost ones can have an adverse effect on the Issuer’s controlled Portfolio Companies’ business, financial situation or performance.

Interest rate risk

There is a risk that in case of fast recovery of the global economy or increase in inflation, central banks will increase interest rates and it will be more expensive to service loans in connection with the Company’s investments, therefore, the value of the Company’s investments can decrease.

Currency risk

The Operational Companies enter into a large portion of non-EUR denominated agreements in foreign markets, whereas some of their performance costs are incurred in EUR, therefore a drop in the rate of respective currencies can have a negative effect on profitability of the managed companies. A large part of computers and other equipment is purchased from foreign manufactures where payments are also made in non-EUR currencies. Besides, having in mind that the Operational Companies operates in many states, there is a risk that the attractiveness or profitability of the Company’s investments will decrease also due to fluctuations in rates of other currencies.

Credit risk


There is a risk that buyers of products and services of companies (directly or indirectly) owned by the Company will fail to fulfil their obligations in time – this would have a negative effect on the profit of the Company and/or companies (directly or indirectly) managed by it. In case of late performance of a large part of obligations, the ordinary business of the Company and/or companies (directly or indirectly) owned by it may be disrupted, it may be necessary to search for additional sources of financing, which may be not always available. The Company also incurs the risk of keeping funds in bank accounts or investing into short-term financial instruments.  


Risk of spin-off from Invalda INVL AB

INVL Technology AB (former parent company) took over 2.6 percent of the assets, equity and liabilities of Invalda LT AB (currently, Invalda INVL AB). If certain obligations of Invalda INVL AB were not known at the time of the spin-off and for this reason were not distributed to all companies operating after the spin-off, all the companies operating after the spin-off will be liable for them jointly and severally. The liability of each of those companies for these obligations will be limited by the amount of the equity, assigned to each of them according to the terms of spin-off. Thus, there is a risk that if the obligations of Invalda INVL AB are not distributed, the Company will be liable for obligations of Invalda INVL AB, which according to the terms of spin-off are assigned to the Company. The Company does not have any information that the reorganisation of Invalda INVL AB was performed improperly and/or that some of the obligations of Invalda INVL AB are not distributed.

Risk of liquidity of investments

There is a risk that investments into Operational Companies will be relatively illiquid and finding buyers for such companies can take some time. Furthermore, financing conditions can become worse due to deteriorating economic condition of the world, a region or a country, where the Operational Company is acting. Therefore, sale of the Company’s investments can take longer than planned or their return may be less than planned. When investing into Operational Companies, securities issued by which (shares, bonds and other financial instruments) are not admitted to trading on regulated markets, there is a probability of facing a situation when sale of securities, due to absence of demand or other conditions in the market, can take longer than planned or not be as profitable as planned or may even cause losses.

 Liquidity risk

There is a risk that due to deteriorating economic condition of the world, a region or a country it will become difficult/expensive for the Company (managed by the Management Company) to obtain new loans for acquisition of investment objects or to refinance old loans, therefore the value of the Company’s investments can decrease. In order to reduce this risk, the Management Company will seek to maintain a sufficient level of liquidity in the Company or will seek to organise timely financing from financial institutions or other parties.

Acquiring Shares of the Company, the shareholders assume the risk of securities liquidity – in case of a drop in demand for Shares or delisting them from the stock exchange, investors would find it difficult to sell them. In case of deterioration of the Company’s financial situation, the demand for Shares of the Company, as well as their price may decrease.

Risk of investments by Operational Companies

Operational Companies can control/acquire companies in countries other than those indicated in Article 18 of the Articles of Association and that shall not be considered as performance of the Company’s activities beyond the limits of the countries indicated in Article 18 of the Articles of Association. However, there is a risk that companies acquired/controlled by Operational Companies will be relatively illiquid and finding buyers for such companies can take some time. Furthermore, financing conditions can become worse due to deteriorating economic condition of the world, a region or a country. Therefore, there is a probability of facing a situation when, due to activities of companies managed by an Operational Company or sale of companies managed by an Operational Company, the Operational Company will suffer losses, which will be reflected in the Net Asset Value of the Company.

The Portfolio Companies are party to public sector contracts, which may be affected by political and administrative decisions, and the success and profitability of such contracts may be influenced by political considerations

Public sector customers account for a significant portion of revenues of the Portfolio Companies. The extent and profitability of public sector business of the Portfolio Companies may be influenced by political considerations. It may also be affected by political and administrative decisions concerning levels of public spending. In certain cases, due to applicable regulations, such as European Union tender rules, certain terms of public sector contracts, such as pricing terms, contract period, use of business partners and ability to transfer receivables under contract, provide the Portfolio Companies with less flexibility than comparable private sector contracts do. Moreover, decisions to decrease public spending may result in the termination or downscaling of public sector contracts, which could have a material adverse effect on business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects of the Portfolio Companies.

Contracts in the public sector are also subject to review and monitoring by authorities to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including those prohibiting anti-competitive practices. The Management believes that it complies with these laws and regulations. However, regulatory authorities may nevertheless deem a Portfolio Company to be in violation of such laws or regulations, and the relevant Portfolio Company could be subject to fines, penalties and other sanctions, including exclusion from participation in tenders for public contracts. Any such event would have a material adverse impact on the business, results of operations, financial condition, prospects and reputation of the Portfolio Company or some of them.  

The Company could be subject to information technology theft or misuse, which could result in third party claims and harm its business, reputation, results and financial condition

The Company could face attempts by other persons to gain unauthorised access to the Company’s information technology systems, which could threaten the security of the Company’s information and stability of its systems. These attempts could arise from industrial or other espionage or actions by hackers that may harm the Company or its customers. The Company may be not successful in detecting and preventing such theft and attacks. Theft, unauthorised access and use of trade secrets or other confidential business information as a result of such an incident could disrupt the Company’s business and adversely affect its reputation and competitive position, which could materially adversely affect the Company’s business, results of operation or financial condition.

Risk of insolvency of Operational Companies

Operational Companies, in performance of their activities, can face insolvency problems (go bankrupt, undergo restructuring, etc.). Accordingly, such situations can have a negative effect on the price of the Shares or result in insolvency of the Company itself.

Risk of insolvency of the Company

In case of realisation of one or several of the risks, which would have a negative effect on the value and/or liquidity of Operational Companies, this can result in the Company’s solvency problems, when the Company will be incapable of fulfilling its obligations. In such a case, shareholders of the Company can lose all their funds invested into the Company.