Elektrilevi, the largest distribution network company in Estonia, will acquire Imatra Elekter, which offers energy services to 25,000 customers in Western Estonia and Viimsi. The transaction must be approved by the Estonian Competition Authority before it enters into force.

By agreement of the parties, the price of the transaction will be published after transaction gets approval by the Competition Authority.

Prior to the merger clearance and the completion of the transaction, everything will continue as before for Imatra Elekter's customers. Should there be any changes in contracts or network service operations in the future, Elektrilevi will notify its new customers in advance.

“The initiative for the transaction came from the Finnish energy group Imatran Seudun Sähkö, who wanted to exit the Estonian market and leave their customers in professional hands. As this coincided with our wish to expand the distribution network business, we reached an agreement," commented Mihkel Härm, Chairman of the Management Board of Elektrilevi.

Ari Saukkonen, Chairman of the Management Board of Imatra Seudun Sähkö, feels satisfied that the agreement was signed with Elektrilevi: “Elektrilevi is a valued and customer-centric company, and that makes us feel confident that our Estonian customers are in good hands and will be well cared for in the future.”

By merging the companies, Elektrilevi is taking a step forward to offer a network service with an even better price-quality ratio in Estonia. "Thanks to the co-management of networks, the synergies arising from procurements and the economical use of resources, we can offer better prices for all customers in the long run and at the same time improve grid reliability," Härm noted.

Imatra Elekter's customers currently pay on average almost 12 percent more for network charges than Elektrilevi's customers. It will take up to two years to connect the two companies and fully integrate the systems, after which the price of the network service will converge.

"In the financial plan, we see that we will invest more than today in increasing the reliability of the Imatra network. Investments will certainly help to achieve greater efficiency, especially in the view of harmonization of information systems,” explained Härm.

As the largest distribution network company in Estonia, Elektrilevi has consistently increased the reliability of the grid and at the same time kept the price level as low as possible. Network service price has fallen by a fifth in recent years, despite the general increase in the cost of living - in 2017-2019, the network fee fell by a total of 17 percent.

Over the last 15 years, the network service has burdened consumer’s wallets less and less. According to the consumer price index, prices have increased by 54% in this period, but the price of network services rose in the same period by only 9%.

Elektrilevi is the largest network company in Estonia, managing approximately 60,000 kilometers of power lines and 24,000 substations. The network company has more than 508,000 customers.

Imatra Elekter, the third largest distribution network company in Estonia, has more than 25,000 customers. The company operates nearly 3,100 kilometers of power lines and 1,300 substations.