
Altor and Bain sell Ewos for €1.35bn
Swedish GP Altor and US firm Bain Capital have sold Norwegian aquaculture feed and nutrition producer Ewos to American food producer Cargill for €1.35bn.
The exit comes two years after Altor and Bain jointly acquired Ewos for NOK 6.5bn (€823.56m) from Norwegian state-owned fish farming company Cermaq. The two GPs will remain invested in Nova Austral, a Chilean salmon farming business, which was acquired from bankruptcy by Ewos for €183m in September 2014.
In addition to Nova Austral, Altor remains exposed to the agribusiness sector through its buyout of Danish animal feed ingredients manufacturer Hamlet Protein from Polaris, in which it invested alongside Goldman Sachs in May.
For Altor, the deal marks another exit for its €2bn 2008-vintage Altor III vehicle, which most recently realised its holding in Eltek in December last year, shortly after the sale of Apotek Hjärtat to ICA Gruppen for SEK 5.6bn.
Previous funding
Ewos was jointly acquired by Altor and Bain in 2013 as a spinout from the Norwegian government's aquaculture company Cermaq. Altor invested through its Altor III vehicle, while Bain put in cash from its Bain Capital Europe III fund.
Company
Founded in Sweden in 1931, Ewos is a Bergen-headquartered supplier of feed and nutrition products for the international aquaculture industry.
The company operates in Norway, Chile, Canada, Scotland and Vietnam, and has 1,000 employees.
People
Altor partner Hugo Maurstad and Bain managing director Ed Han led the exit for the GPs. Einar Wathne is the CEO of Ewos.
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