Nordic Capital to become largest shareholder in listed Nordax

The transaction was implemented through a reverse bookbuilding process, in which a total of 15% of the capital was acquired by Nordic Capital (9.96%) and Carnegie Investment Bank (5.04%).

The share block is worth SEK 886.1m based on the latest share price of SEK 53.25. Nordax's market cap stands at SEK 5bn.

A spokesperson for Nordic Capital confirmed with unquote" the stake was worth SEK 830m.

The private equity investor has entered into a call option arrangement with Carnegie which entitles it to acquire the additional 5.04% shares. This would make Nordic Capital the largest shareholder in Nordax.

Nordic intends to exercise this call option upon receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals. Prior to that, the GP stated there would be be no voting cooperation, veto rights or other agreements between Nordic Capital and Carnegie when it comes to exercising influence over Nordax.

The GP intends to grow Nordax through a digitalisation strategy as well as product development.

Capital was deployed from the firm's buyout vehicle Nordic Capital Fund VIII, which held a final close on its €3.5bn hard-cap in December 2013. As of March 2017, the fund was 62% deployed.

Previous funding
The Swedish consumer loans and deposit account provider achieved a market cap of SEK 5bn in its IPO on the Stockholm stock exchange in June 2015.

Prior to its listing, Nordax was acquired by Vision Capital in April 2010 from Palamon Capital Partners in a €105m deal.

Vision Capital made 5.2x money on its investment in Nordax earlier this year after selling off its final shareholding of 13.6% in the business.

Palamon first backed the business in 2003, when Nordax was founded by a management team of five principals led by CEO, Morten Falch. Palamon's €13m commitment was the first in a two-stage process, where further capital was contributed later.

Company
Established in 2003 and operating from a centralised platform in Stockholm, Nordax provides unsecured loans to individuals using advanced statistical models for customer acquisition and underwriting. Operating in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, the business has approximately 120,000 loan customers and 28,000 savings customers.

The company posted a turnover of around SEK 1bn for its 2016 financial year. Its operating profit was SEK 573m.

People
Nordic Capital – Kristoffer Melinder (managing partner).

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