Technological DD for Enterprise Investors at the entrance to Saulėgrąža, Lithuania
The technological due diligence conducted by 3 Hazel Tree Partners for Enterprise Investors on Fund IX’s investment in Kredito unija “Saulėgrąža” demonstrated that even in a regulated asset, based on a core banking platform provided by a third-party vendor and preparing for a change in licensing regime, it is possible to provide the fund with a useful opinion for the investment committee within a short due diligence period – provided the scope is narrowed to questions that truly impact the decision.
On July 1, 2026, Enterprise Investors announced Fund IX’s investment in Kredito unija “Saulėgrąža” – a Lithuanian financial institution supervised by the Bank of Lithuania, with plans to transform it into a bank serving the SME sector in the Baltic market and Poland. For the fund, this represented a ready-made, regulated platform – with its own BIC, a newly implemented core banking platform from a specialized provider, and a clearly defined growth thesis based on the change in licensing status. This is precisely the type of asset where the technology layer isn’t a matter of policy compliance, but rather a prerequisite for the viability of the business plan.
Enterprise Investors didn’t need a full audit—they needed a quick, independent opinion answering a single question: whether there was anything visible in the technology layer that could realistically impact the investment thesis or the transition plan from credit union to bank.
The work was designed proportionately to this question. Risk-based scoping, several workstreams covering the core platform architecture, IT operating model and vendor dependencies, infrastructure and business continuity, regulatory reporting chain, and cybersecurity. Evidence came from documentation, system data, and short, structured interviews on both sides of the stack—with the management and CIO of the target, and with the core banking provider’s team. Where layers were disconnected or evidence was lacking, we described the gap.
The fund received a concise opinion structured around the transaction logic—delineating what was ready, what needed to be finalized before closing, and what constituted the readiness map for the target banking regime. No redundant slides, no content that doesn’t impact the decision.
This project is a good example of the thesis behind our approach to tech DD: value doesn’t depend on the length of the report, but on the relevance of the questions posed at the outset. A short format is possible when the fund knows what it needs, and the advisor can limit it and consistently maintain it. Where EI approached the transaction with a clear thesis and sector experience, our role was solely to establish a technological perspective—quickly, precisely, and without distracting the fund with areas that don’t impact the decision.
