Buyers and Builders How I Left PE and Bought 16 Companies | Kaido Veske Interview
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Mar 3, 2026 Kaido Veske, co-founder and managing partner at Livonia Partners who built a Baltic-focused PE firm, shares his move from US finance to raising a ~$200M fund. He discusses sourcing and the “kill list.” He recounts 16 acquisitions, the Thermory buy-consolidate-scale story, lessons on leverage and fund sizing, and why the Baltics offer big opportunity for dedicated buyers.
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Pan-Baltic Focus With Clear EBITDA Scale Targets
- Livonia targets Pan-Baltic lower-middle-market companies with 1–5 million EBITDA aiming to scale them to ~10 million by exit.
- Kaido emphasizes sector comfort in tech, business services, and industrials while keeping a flexible minority/majority mandate.
Treat Sourcing As Your Secret Sauce
- Build sourcing as your 'secret sauce' and institutionalize it with CRM, events, constant outreach, and a 'kill list' requiring each partner to progress 8–10 targets.
- Good sourcing provides unemotional alternatives when diligence uncovers deal issues.
Baltics Have Supply Of Targets But Shortage Of Buyers
- The Baltics have many good companies but too few private equity buyers, creating a structural opportunity measured by low capital-per-GDP multiples.
- Kaido raised capital to exploit that supply-demand imbalance starting in 2015.
