15/03/2013

Sixth investment has been added to LitCapital’s investment portfolio after the investment agreement with Baltic Bicycle Trade, UAB was signed. Until 2013 BBT has been involved in bicycle wholesale and retail sales in Baltic region distributing Panther branded bicycles. Currently the company is owned by Panther International and company’s management. In 2012 the decision was made to concentrate all activities related to the development, manufacturing and sales of electric bicycle in BBT. Fund will invest between 5 to 10 m LTL into the company.

The purpose of the investment is to finance the development and manufacturing of electric bicycles in Lithuania and to create strong brand name in targeted markets. Until now Panther International has been concentrating the development of electric bicycle in Germany. Manufacturing took place in a company Baltik Vairas, UAB based in Šiauliai, Lithuania. According to the investment agreement electric bicycle development functions are going to be transferred to BBT in Lithuania. Invested capital will be used to finance the development of electric bicycle technology, own brand creation, working capital and sales & marketing expenses

The decision to increase efforts dedicated to the development of electric bicycle fully reflects trends observable in Western Europe. Sales of electric bicycles are growing at a much faster rate than the sales of conventional bicycles. It is expected that more than 90% of production is going to be exported to Western Europe.