Signet Bank starts partnership with AgroCredit, expanding financing opportunities for agricultural companies in Latvia

On 3 December 2024, Latvia’s leading investment bank Signet Bank AS (hereinafter – Signet Bank) acquired a 51% share of the company AgroCredit Latvia SIA (hereinafter – AgroCredit), an agricultural lender, expanding access to financing for local agricultural entrepreneurs and businesses, as well as diversifying the bank’s financing product portfolio.

In recent years, the agricultural sector has been significantly affected by rapid price changes in both commodity and product markets, as well as rising interest rates on loans. In such a situation, access to finance becomes one of the key factors for the growth and stability of companies. By combining AgroCredit’s experience in the agricultural sector with Signet Bank’s experience in the banking sector, we will be able to offer flexible financing that will help farmers adapt to changing market conditions and ensure stable development.

“Signet Bank’s goal as a local capital bank is to offer diversified and sustainable financing opportunities for the business growth of Latvian companies, which also play an important role in the development of the national economy. Continuing the bank’s growth strategy focused on increasing the local loan portfolio, this transaction will provide Latvian farmers with access to a wider range of financing options, working with AgroCredit, a trusted and experienced partner in the sector. At the same time, this transaction will allow Signet Bank to diversify its loan portfolio by offering a growing range of lending products to businesses, in addition to capital market financial instruments,” says Roberts Idelsons, Chairman of the Board of Signet Bank.

“AgroCredit Latvia has been operating for 13 years and as a non-bank lender offers tailor-made and easily accessible lending services to farmers. During these years, the company has become a leading non-bank financier in the sector and has grown its total loan portfolio to EUR 25 million. In order to successfully continue its development, grow its portfolio further and be able to provide the level of financing required by its customers, the company needed a strategic partner capable of providing the volume and type of financial resources required. We are delighted to have reached an agreement with such an experienced and competent partner as Signet Bank. I am confident that this synergy will result in a win-win situation for both parties, but above all for AgroCredit’s clients and partners”, comments Ģirts Vinters, Chairman of the Board of AgroCredit.

About Signet Bank
Signet Bank is Latvia’s leading investment bank, founded in 1991 and one of the first banks in independent Latvia. Signet Bank offers sustainable financing and investment solutions to local entrepreneurs and businesses. Since 2021, Signet Bank has raised additional funding of EUR 500 million for more than 40 Latvian companies through bond and equity issues. In 2023, funds under management reached EUR 1.4 billion. Signet Bank is the leading corporate bond arranger in Latvia and the leading stockbroker in the Baltics in 2023 according to Nasdaq Stock Exchange. Signet Bank shareholders are nineteen Latvian and international private investors, the largest of which are Signet Acquisition III (23.05%), whose sole shareholder is US investor Aleksandrs Solovejs; AS “RIT Group” (18.35%), a Latvian company owned by the Rapoport family; and SIA “Reglink” (14.98%), founded by banking professional Irīna Pīgozne.

About AgroCredit Latvia
AgroCredit Latvia is a company established in 2011 that provides lending services to farmers, mainly short-term loans to grain farmers for the purchase of raw materials and other working capital. In 2023, AgroCredit Latvia had a turnover of EUR 2.008 million and a profit of EUR 383 299. The company’s share capital is EUR 1.5 million. AgroCredit Finance Ltd. is the sole owner of AgroCredit Latvia, owned by Ģirts Vinters (50%) and Jānis Kārkliņš (50%). The company’s bonds are listed on Nasdaq Riga.