Finnish Patria defense company investing in Estonia to acquire Milrem.

In October 2017, Finnish Company Patria has signed an agreement with Mootor Grupp to acquire their share of 60 % of the largest defence maintenance contractor in Estonia - Milrem LCM OÜ. The remaining 40 % belongs to the Estonian company Sinrob OÜ, owned by the current Milrem CEO Kuldar Väärsi.

Patria has signed an agreement with Mootor Grupp to acquire their share of 60 % of the largest defence maintenance contractor in Estonia - Milrem LCM OÜ. Milrem booth at UMEX 2018 defense exhibition in UAE. (Picture source Army Recognition)

Milrem acquisition is part of the execution of the new Patria strategy in which one of the main growth areas is partnerships with defence forces in life-cycle support services, particularly in northern Europe. Patria aims to develop Milrem’s competence and capability further and the company will continue under Estonian leadership.

“We are looking forward to continue the close cooperation with the Estonian Defence Forces and to grow it to partnerships also in new areas of which we have great experiences from Finland and other countries. Milrem LCM is also a good basis for us to grow further in the other Baltic countries,” states Lassi Matikainen, President, International Support Partnerships of Patria.

“Milrem has been developing its services in order to be a reliable and trustworthy partner for the Estonian Defence Forces. Patria’s remarkable experience and know-how will help us to grow further and extend the coverage of our services,” adds Kuldar Väärsi, CEO and co-owner of Milrem. “Our goal is to provide comprehensive and professional life cycle support for full range of defence equipment.”

Finland and Estonia have long cooperation traditions. Within this cooperation, Finland also sold 2004 some 60 surplus Patria XA vehicles to Estonian Defence Forces. Patria and Milrem both have an important role in supporting the XA fleet.

Patria is a trusted provider of defence, security and aviation life cycle support services and technology solutions. Besides Finland, the Group has operations in Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Poland, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and South Africa. Patria employs 2,800 professionals. Patria is owned by the State of Finland (50.1%) and Norwegian Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS (49.9%).

Milrem provides services for defence and security sector offering life cycle support services for heavy and armored vehicles, weapon systems and other military equipment. The company provides maintenance and repair works for the Estonian Defence Forces’ XA-180 and XA-188 as well as other military vehicles in Tallinn and in Võru.