Elan will continue to be led by CEO Jeffrey Tirman.

The founder of KJK and leading partner, Kustaa Äimä, said that the new owners were very happy that the purchase had been successfully completed after nine months of hard work.

Noting that Elan was an important global player in its branch because it was innovative and consumer-oriented, Äimä said that the company would play a key role in KJK's plans to form a group of sports equipment makers.

Moreover, Tirman, which has been leading Elan for the last three years, will take over at the helm of the new holding company of the group, KJK Sports.

The group will also include Estonian sports vessels producer Tahe Outdoors and the Bulgarian bicycle maker Leader 96.

"We were happy to hear that the sale of Elan to the KJK fund has been successfully completed," said Tirman, pointing to new opportunities and synergies.

After struggling for years, Elan, a state-owned company at the time, was sold in July 2015 to the company Wiltan Enterprises, owned by the Russian capital fund VR Capital.

Since acquiring it, Wiltan has invested nearly EUR 10m in the company.

A deal on the sale to the Finnish-owned asset manager KJK was signed in December 2018. The Competition Protection Agency gave the green light to the sale at the end of last month.

Elan has been producing sports goods for more than 70 years and posting good results recently.

It specialises in skis, high-tech equipment components, high-performance sail boats and innovative solutions for arenas and stadiums.

KJK was established last year with EUR 250m in private capital. It focuses on investments in the Balkans and the Baltic states and is already present in Slovenia with investments in several companies.