Altor sells Centralpoint to trade for €425m

Dustin is funding the transaction via 8.25 million newly issued Dustin shares and the residual in cash financed via increased credit facilities, according to a statement. The company also plans to propose a rights issue of approximately SEK 1.2bn in H2 2021.

Axel Johnson and AMF Fonder are Dustin's two largest shareholders, holding 40% in Dustin between them. The shareholders have agreed to vote in favour of the company's upcoming EGM, according to a statement.

Rotla, the holding company of Centralpoint, has also undertaken to subscribe for its pro rata share of the rights issue. Rotla is controlled by Altor Fund IV and Kool Active, according to a statement. Jordy Kool is a non executive director of Infotheek and also its former CEO; he first became a shareholder in the company in 2009. Altor partner Stefan Linder is the chairman of the board of Rotla.

The combined companies will have around 2,300 employees. Dustin expects that the deal will generate synergies of around SEK 150m, which will be implemented by 2023 or 2024, and the company intends to invest SEK 50m to support the process.

Previous funding
Altor acquired Netherlands-based Infotheek in April 2016 via Altor Fund IV, which closed in July 2014 on €2bn. Partner Stefan Linder told Unquote at the time that the GP aimed to support the company in becoming a European leader in its sector, citing an IPO as a potential exit opportunity, in addition to a potential trade sale as part of market consolidation.

At the time of Altor's initial investment, Infotheek had 500 staff and posted revenues of €300m. Infotheek generated 2019 turnover of €811m and employed around 500 staff.

Altor acquired Centralpoint in 2017 via Infotheek. Centralpoint became the company's re-seller unit, while FlexIT was its distribution unit. Centralpoint had previously been backed by Greenfield Capital Partners, which acquired a minority stake in the business from Van den Ende & Deitmers in 2011.

Infotheek's FlexIT and Centralpoint business units were separated in September 2019, according to a press release from FlexIT.

Altor acquired an 80% stake in Stockholm-headquartered Dustin in August 2006, subsequently listing the company on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in February 2015. In May and October 2016, Altor sold two further sets of block shares in the company, amounting to more than SEK 572m in total. The listing in 2015 valued the company at SEK 3.8bn. At the time of publication, Dustin had a market capitalisation of more than SEK 9.5bn.

Company
Centralpoint re-sells IT hardware including smartphones and laptops. The company also provides software and IT services, generally serving mid-market businesses and public sector organisations. It generated 2020 revenues of around €700m and employs approximately 600 people. Founded in 2002, Centralpoint is based in Nijmegen in the Netherlands, with additional operations in Belgium.

People
Centralpoint – Luuk Slaats (CEO); Jordy Kool (non-executive director).
Altor Equity Partners – Stefan Linder (partner).
Dustin – Thomas Ekman (president).

Advisers
Acquirer – Carnegie Investment Bank (corporate finance); Cederquist (legal).
Vendor – Jefferies (corporate finance).

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