Baltic Classifieds Group, a company operating classifieds portals in the Baltic states, is the third Lithuanian start-up to be valued above 1 billion euros, Economy Minister Aušrinė Armonaitė said.
“Congratulations to the Lithuanian start-up community and Baltic Classifieds Group for becoming the official third unicorn from Lithuania,” the liberal minister posted on Facebook on Wednesday morning.
‘Unicorns’ are start-up companies to reach the valuation of more than one billion. In Lithuania, the title is held by Vinted, an online clothing marketplace, and Nord Security, a cyber security solutions company.
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG), which owns the ad portals Autoplius.lt, Aruodas.lt, Skelbiu.lt, CVbankas.lt and others, controls several ad portals in Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia. The company was established in 1999 and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Unicorn since last year
Justinas Šimkus, CEO of Baltic Classifieds Group, told LRT.lt that the company became a unicorn last year. At the moment, however, the company’s valuation dropped below one billion.
“We became a unicorn immediately after listing on the stock exchange, because the value of the company exceeded 1 billion euros. On the stock market, the value of a company always fluctuates and in a month’s time it might exceed one billion again. From a long-term perspective, the value of a company depends on its financial performance. They are improving every year, so I have no doubt that our company’s valuation will be above 1 billion,” said Šimkus.
He said that the company never had the goal of becoming a unicorn. “The company’s goal was never to become a unicorn. Our aim was to create a modern, successful and prosperous company where it would be good to work and have happy employees. [...] When we crossed the one-billion mark, we quietly celebrated among ourselves, but we didn’t make too much of it,” he said.
Really a unicorn?
The Innovation Agency also announced on Wednesday that Lithuania has three “unicorns”, including Baltic Classifieds Group, based on the overview of the Lithuanian startup ecosystem for 2022 prepared by Dealroom, a website with a database of startups.
In a post published in March 2021, Dealroom says it classifies “unicorns” as tech companies founded since 1990 that have a value or price tag of more than 1 billion US dollars (0.93 billion euros). The portal also classifies as “unicorns” start-ups with an initial public offering (IPO) price of less than 1 billion, but that subsequently exceeded the magic number of 1 billion.
Baltic Classifieds Group’s market value is currently below 1 billion euros. Some therefore have questioned as to whether the company can really be considered as Lithuania’s third unicorn.
Erikas Murinas, head of the communication agency More, says he does not think that Baltic Classifieds Group deserves the title.
“I remind for Aušrinė [Armonaitė] and our media the definition: ‘a unicorn is a privately held startup company with a valuation of $1 billion or more’. Hundreds of dictionaries say the same thing and Dealroom or our government can’t change the definition,” he posted on Facebook.
According to Murinas, Baltic Classidieds Group does not meet either criterion of the definition: it a publicly owned company listed on the London Stock Exchange and its valuation is currently, 715 million pounds, or 664 million US dollars.
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