MicroLink was a
Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
IT company
A technology company (or tech company) is an electronics-based technology, technological company, including, for example, business relating to digital electronics, software, and internet-related services, such as e-commerce services.
Details
Accor ...
, founded by
Rainer Nõlvak
Rainer Nõlvak (born September 28, 1966) is an Estonian entrepreneur and nature protector who is the chairman of the board of the Estonian Nature Fund.
Rainer Nõlvak has advocated for the Estonian energy industry to move away from oil shale
and ...
and Hanno Haamer in August 1991 in
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
,
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
. Launched as a
PC maker, it diversified into IT distribution (CHS Estonia),
systems integration
System integration is defined in engineering as the process of bringing together the component sub-systems into one system (an aggregation of subsystems cooperating so that the system is able to deliver the overarching functionality) and ensuring ...
(Microlink Systems) and
providing of internet services (MicroLink Online) and
electronics manufacturing Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) is a term used for companies that design, manufacture, test, distribute, and provide return/repair services for electronic components and assemblies for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The concept is ...
(MicroLink Electronics). The company established itself as the largest Baltic PC maker by the mid-1990s.
In 1998, the company appointed
Allan Martinson
Allan Martinson (born 1966) is an Estonian technology entrepreneur and investor. He is the CEO of Xolo, a company serving the global freelancer community. In the past, he was the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Sales Officer of Starship Technol ...
as its
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
and merged with the 2nd largest Estonian IT company Astrodata. A period of quick growth ensued, fuelled by 4
private equity
In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...
rounds from Baltic Investment Fund, Baltic Republics Fund and other players. In 1999–2000, the company grew 5 times by completing 15 mergers and acquisitions, including mergers with the biggest and second-biggest of the
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
n IT companies Fortech and VAR, seven internet service providers across the Baltic region etc. While the corporate headquarters remained in Tallinn, Estonia, the group became essentially pan-Baltic, with the largest number of employees and revenues from Latvia.
In 1999, the company also launched
Delfi
Delfi may refer to
* Delfi (web portal), internet portal in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
* Delfi (chess), chess engine
* Delfi bookstores, a chain of bookstores in Serbia
* Delfi Limited, a Singaporean confectionery company See also
* Delphi (d ...
, which established itself as the leading
news portal
A web portal is a specially designed website that brings information from diverse sources, like emails, online forums and search engines, together in a uniform way. Usually, each information source gets its dedicated area on the page for displayin ...
in all three Baltic countries. Initially, Delfi was set up as a 50:50 joint venture with
BNS, the region's leading news agency, but eventually MicroLink bought out its counterpart.
Through the merger with Fortech, MicroLink also inherited a majority stake in
SAF Tehnika
SAF Tehnika (from Latvian ''Super Augstas Frekvences'' – "Super High Frequencies", ) is a Latvian designer, producer and distributor of digital Microwave Data transmission equipment. SAF Tehnika products provide wireless backhaul solutions f ...
, a Latvian developer and producer of
microwave radio
Microwave transmission is the transmission of information by electromagnetic waves with wavelengths in the microwave frequency range of 300MHz to 300GHz(1 m - 1 mm wavelength) of the electromagnetic spectrum. Microwave signals are normally limi ...
links.
At its peak, MicroLink employed near 1000 employees and had 60 million
EUR
The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . Th ...
in revenues.
In 2003–2005, MicroLink sold off its investments. Delfi was sold for 5 m EUR to
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
*Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
*Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including the ...
company
Findexa
Eniro AB is a Nordic tech company that helps small and medium-sized companies with digital marketing. Eniro also has a search service that aggregates, filters and presents information to help individuals find and come into contact with each othe ...
(resold 3 years later to Estonian Ekspress Grupp for 51 m EUR). SAF Tehnika became the first and only listed Baltic stock at
Riga Stock Exchange
The Nasdaq Riga, formerly Riga Stock Exchange, is the sole stock exchange operating in Riga, Latvia. It is owned by Nasdaq, which also operates exchanges in the USA, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Armenia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Established i ...
in the
IPO
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
that valued the company at 52 m EUR. MicroLink Computers was sold to the management and MicroLink Electronics to
Amphenol
Amphenol Corporation is a major producer of electronic and fiber optic connectors, cable and interconnect systems such as coaxial cables. Amphenol is a portmanteau from the corporation's original name, American Phenolic Corp.
History
Amphenol ...
. Finally, MicroLink's core IT business was sold to three Baltic telecom companies (
Eesti Telekom
Telia Eesti AS (formerly AS Eesti Telekom) is one of the largest telecommunication companies in the Baltic states, Baltic States and member of Telia Company. AS Eesti Telekom is a holding company registered and operating in the Republic of Estoni ...
,
Lattelecom
Tet (styled as tet, previously Lattelekom and Lattelecom) is a Latvian internet service provider, telecommunications, technology and entertainment company. Since 2017, it also is an electricity service provider.
The Tet Group provides IT, tele ...
and
Teo LT
Teo LT was the largest Lithuanian broadband Internet access and voice telephony services operator, providing integrated telecommunication, IT, and TV services to residents and business.
TEO had more than 640,000 main lines in services, more th ...
). in a deal exceeding 20 m EUR. Soon after this sale, MicroLink's
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
n arm was sold by Lithuanian telecom TEO.LT to MTVP
venture capital
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...
company and part of the Latvian operations – the leading local ERP software maker FMS – to the management.
The last CEO of independent MicroLink was Jānis Bergs, who took the post over in 2004.
In 2006, Microlink Latvia Ltd. was renamed Lattelecom Technology, but since 2019 its name is T2T.
By 2011, both Latvian and Estonian telecoms had merged MicroLink with their core operations and MicroLink ceased to exist both as a brand and an independent corporate entity. The Lithuanian MicroLink was named Hostex and sold back to Teo LT in 2010.
Microlink business interests included: system integration and infrastructure solutions,
software development
Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, programming, documenting, testing, and bug fixing involved in creating and maintaining applications, frameworks, or other software components. Software development invol ...
,
ERP and business solutions,
IT consulting
In management, information technology consulting (also called IT consulting, computer consultancy, business and technology services, computing consultancy, technology consulting, and IT advisory) is a field of activity which focuses on advising or ...
and training, central systems and
datacentre
A data center (American English) or data centre (British English)See spelling differences. is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunic ...
solutions and
end-user
In product development, an end user (sometimes end-user) is a person who ultimately uses or is intended to ultimately use a product. The end user stands in contrast to users who support or maintain the product, such as sysops, system administrat ...
PC services and support.
References
{{Authority control
Information technology companies of Estonia
1991 establishments in Estonia
Computer companies established in 1991
Companies based in Tallinn
Telecommunications companies disestablished in 2011
2011 disestablishments in Estonia