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2023
Advisor to
and its portfolio company
in the acquisition of
The deal:
Nordhaven advised Broviken in the acquisition of the Swedish CRM specialist Releye A
Nordhaven advised Broviken and its portfolio company, Intellic Group AB, in the acquisition of the Swedish CRM specialist Releye AB.

Intellic Group, majority-owned by Broviken, is expanding its customer offerings through a new partnership with the rapidly growing CRM company Releye AB. Releye is now a part of Intellic Group, and will enhance the group's strategic and technical offerings in CRM, business strategy, and marketing automation. The partnership is a significant step in Intellic Group's goal of becoming a leading player in Analytics, CRM, and strategic consulting.

Stockholm based Releye has a strong market position in Sweden after more than 20 years of CRM specialist advisory services. The company has a successful partnership with two of the globally leading CRM platforms, Microsoft Dynamics and Salesforce. The majority of their clients are within banking, finance, and insurance. Through this acquisition, Releye becomes a stronger holistic partner for its customers. In addition to Releye, Intellic group already includes the companies Attollo and Omeo. Attollo is a leading player in Analytics, and Omeo is a niche consulting firm within the financial sector.

Jonas Boström, CEO of Intellic Group, comments:
"We are very excited about Releye becoming a part of Intellic Group's journey. We now have entirely new opportunities to offer our customers a broader and more comprehensive range of services, and hopefully, we will become an even more interesting employer. I see incredible potential in our combined expertise and look forward to working together."

Charlotte Magne, CEO of Releye, comments:
"It feels fantastic to become a part of Intellic Group! Together, we become a larger and more interesting player for our customers and partners, especially in the field of customer intelligence. We see continued high demand from our customers driven by the need for digitalization and look forward to continuing our growth journey together with Intellic Group."

The terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

About Broviken:
Broviken invests in service companies run by strong entrepreneurs and management teams. Broviken's partners themselves have many years of experience from developing service companies in roles such as leaders, owners and board members. Broviken is a long-term owner and invests without a specified time horizon. Broviken's focus is to develop companies and contribute to already good companies becoming even better and reaching their full potential.
Report:
Nordhaven quarterly software report Q2/2023

Deal volume experienced robust growth from Q1, with increased share of international buyers.

Nordhaven, in Q2 2023, has identified 32 software deals in the Nordic region, marking growth for the first time in four consecutive quarters. This period reflects the highest transaction volume since Q2 2023. The growth is primarily driven by a significant increase in transaction volume from Denmark, rising from 2 identified deals to 9.

Company news:
Nordhaven advised Toijala Works on EUR 31 million credit facilities

Toijala Works Oy is a machinery and equipment company with expertise especially in heavy industrial vehicles. Its offering includes contract manufacturing but also own products, such as its line of TW LogStackers. The family owned company has revenues of approximately EUR 45 million and employs around 200 professionals. The new EUR 31 million financing package includes a commercial guarantee limit, term loans, and an overdraft.

The financing package secures our new factory and machinery investments and provides financial flexibility for future business opportunities. Thanks to Nordhaven, we now have diversified sources of financing. We are very satisfied with Nordhaven's support – from process planning to signing", says Heimo J. Aho, Chairman of Toijala Works Oy.


"We thank Toijala Works for their trust in Nordhaven. The transaction is yet another proof of our Debt & Capital Advisory and industrial sector capabilities", says Martti Purhonen, Partner at Nordhaven.


 


For further information:


Martti Purhonen, +358 45 616 1551, martti.purhonen@nordhaven.com


Kalle Helander, +358 40 504 3462, kalle.helander@nordhaven.com


Nicholas Sörensen, +358 40 560 6446, nicholas.sorensen@nordhaven.com

Company news:
Nordhaven advised Elcoline in its growth financing

Nordhaven guided industrial maintenance company Elcoline in a major transaction to support the company's next growth leap.

Nordhaven advised Elcoline and its owners in a transaction in which EAB Private Equity, part of Evli Group, is making a significant equity investment in rapidly growing Elcoline. In addition to EAB Private Equity, which led the investment round, other investors include Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company and the investment companies Tesi and Arvo Sijoitusosuuskunta. Elcoline's founders and key personnel will continue as significant shareholders in the company.


Elcoline is a leading Nordic entrepreneur-driven company founded in Varkaus, Finland in 2002. It specializes in industrial maintenance services and the implementation of demanding technical projects. Elcoline employs more than 600 professionals in Finland and Sweden and had a pro forma revenue of EUR 67 million in 2022. The majority of its revenue is from long term service contracts, which creates a solid foundation for profitable growth. A large part of Elcoline's revenue comes from the energy and infrastructure sectors. The company is a Nordic leader in energy supply security and the smooth transition to new low-carbon energy systems and production. Elcoline's customer base includes well-known international industrial companies such as ABB, Andritz, Meyer, Outokumpu, Parmaco and SSAB.


In this transaction, the total investment in Elcoline is more than EUR 20 million, which will be used to continue the company's acquisition-driven growth strategy and reorganise the current ownership structure. The aim of this new investment is to accelerate the company's growth to a size of over EUR 200 million.


"We thank Nordhaven for assisting Elcoline and its owners in negotiating and structuring the deal, utilizing its financial expertise. Nordhaven has now been our partner in two key transactions, both of which are important steps for us to achieve our growth targets", says Jere Räisänen, Chairman of the Board at Elcoline.


"It is great to advise and support companies that have very ambitious growth plans. And it has been a joy to be involved in Elcoline's journey in implementing its strategic actions", say Ari Leppänen, Partner in Nordhaven.


For further infomation:


Ari Leppänen, +358 40 525 9241, ari.leppanen@nordhaven.com


Niko Piiparinen, +358 40 752 2333, niko.piiparinen@nordhaven.com

2023
Advisor to
on the majority sale to
The deal:
Nordhaven advised Sonat, a Norwegian IT services group, in the majority sale to VIA equity
Nordhaven advised Sonat, a Norwegian IT services group, in the majority sale to VIA equity

The existing shareholders of Sonat have decided to further accelerate the growth of Sonat, with VIA equity joining as the new majority shareholder. As part of the transaction all existing shareholders will reinvest in a large minority stake alongside VIA equity.

Founded in 2012, Sonat offers IT consulting and digital design services through the brands Sonat Consulting, These Ways and FIGMENT. Sonat Consulting offers traditional IT consulting services such as system architecture, front-end and back-end development, machine learning and data science, whereas These Ways is the Group’s digital strategy and design studio. Lastly, Sonat FIGMENT is the Group’s new initiative within the low code/no code vertical. The three companies leverage each other’s expertise and operate as one Group.

Through the years, Sonat has built a strong corporate culture centered around senior digitalization and design specialists. The Group is interacting with blue chip clients in critical digitalization projects from design phase all the way to implementation. The journey has been built organically since inception, with the Group being owned by its employees. Now, the owners of Sonat are looking forward to the next phase of growth together with VIA equity.

Together, VIA and Sonat plan to create a broader presence in Norway through both organic and in-organic growth initiatives. This includes, but is not limited to, opening of new offices across Norway, introducing new service verticals in key digitalization areas and seeking opportunities for M&A with similar IT consultancies with senior expertise.

“We are very impressed by Sonat’s journey and proud to have been chosen by Jonny Klemetsen and all the amazing people of Sonat to become their future partner for continued growth.”, says Daniel Hallberg, Investment Responsible at VIA equity.

“We are very excited about our new partnership with VIA equity. VIA has really proven to understand our business model and the fundamental driving forces underpinning a successful IT consulting firm. In this new constellation we can continue to build on the strong DNA of Sonat and its people and have a strong sparring partner to further accelerate growth and develop our platform.”, says Jonny Klemetsen, Co-founder and CEO of Sonat.

About Sonat
Sonat is an IT consulting and design services firm with ca. 110 FTEs headquartered in Bergen, Norway with an additional office in Oslo. Through the companies Sonat Consulting, These Ways and FIGMENT, the group offers services within Cloud back-end architecture, AR/VR front-end visualization, Data science, Machine learning, Innovation design as well as Low code/No code. Sonat has built a strong corporate DNA centered around senior specialists in digitalization and design.

About VIA equity
VIA equity is a leading Northern European private equity firm with a successful history of building and transforming companies into leading national and international players. VIA equity A/S manages four funds, where the most recent one alone has EUR 175m in committed capital from established international investors. VIA equity invests in successful companies within software and IT-services.
Report:
Nordhaven quarterly software report Q1/2023

Deal activity stabilizes around pre-covid levels with a total of 22 transactions identified for the quarter. Nordhaven experience continued strong interest for high quality Nordic software companies.

Company news:
Nordhaven advised Solteq in the sale of its ERP consulting business to Azets

Nordhaven acted as financial advisor for Helsinki-listed Solteq Plc in the carve-out and divestment of its Nordic ERP business, which is based on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and LS Retail solutions. The purchaser is Azets, the international outsourcing, compliance, and advisory group backed by HgCapital. The transaction was closed on May 2nd, 2023.

The net debt-free purchase price of the business is a maximum of EUR 20 million, consisting of the fixed purchase price of EUR 15 million and the earn-portion of a maximum of EUR 5 million. In 2022, the revenue of the transferring business was EUR 11.2 million and the operating profit was EUR 1.5 million. The business includes employees and customers in Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.


After the divestment Solteq will focus even more on providing superior software solutions and IT expert services for the energy sector, retail, and e-commerce, whereas Azets has ambitions to become a major implementation partner and provider of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central based services and solutions, leveraging its wide customer base and presence across Europe.


"The transaction is already the fourth corporate carve-out and divesture transaction by a publicly listed company that Nordhaven has advised during the past six months. We are thankful for the responsibility that was given to us by Solteq, and believe that this is a true win-win transaction for both the purchaser and the seller, as well as for the customers and the employees of the business." says Juha Raunio, a managing partner at Nordhaven Finland.

2023
Advisor to
and its fully owned subsidiary
in the divestment of its Planning and Surveying business in Sweden to
The deal:
Nordhaven advised Sikri Group ASA in divesting its Planning and Surveying (P&S) business unit to Sweco
Nordhaven advised Sikri Group ASA (Sikri Group), and its fully owned subsidiary Metria AB, in the divestment of Metria AB’s Planning and Surveying (P&S) business area in Sweden to Sweco Sverige AB. The divestment will sharpen Sikri Group’s focus on its core business, software and software related services.

P&S comprises a leading consultancy business related to urban and community planning, aerial photography and laser scanning as well as surveying services related to the entire construction value chain. The unit had 110 employees at the end of 2022, and 2022 revenue of SEK 138 million.

“We see strong demand for data driven solutions that simplify and streamline processes for the public sector and the real estate industry. Sikri Group is well positioned as a leading Nordic software provider in these sectors and following the divestment of P&S, we will sharpen focus even further on our core business, which is software and services directly related to our software offering,” said CEO of Sikri Group Nicolay Moulin.

Sikri Group gained a strong footprint in the Swedish market through the acquisition of the Swedish software and geoinformation company Metria in April 2022. Following the divestment of P&S, Metria will be fully focused on geodata, property and real estate data, software and services. Key customers are Swedish government agencies, municipalities, finance institutions, telcos, and energy companies. Excluding the P&S business area, Metria’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) was SEK 113 million at the end of 2022.

“We are strengthening our focus on being the market leader in digital data and analysis services within GIS, geodata, business and real estate information. Meanwhile, Metria’s planning and surveying operations become part of Sweco, which brings new opportunities for the business' customers and employees,” said CEO of Sikri Group Nicolay Moulin.

The transaction will be consummated as a carve-out of the P&S business from Metria. Closing of the transaction is subject to certain third party approvals being obtained and that the P&S business is being separation ready as agreed between the parties and is expected to take place 2 May 2023.
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