KJK buys winter sports equipment company Elan

It is the second investment the GP has made from its latest fund, KJK Fund III, which held a first close on €138m against a €250m target in September 2018.

Both of its investments so far have been in the sporting goods sector. Its first investment was the acquisition of a 50% stake in Estonian watersports equipment manufacturer Tahe Outdoors in December.

Elan will undertake a buy-and-build strategy, supported by its new owners, Unquote understands.

The transaction value was not disclosed but the fund generally invests in companies with €20-40m turnover; Elan generated sales of €82.5m in 2017 and is a profitable business.

Debt for the transaction was provided by a syndicate of local Slovenian banks.

Previous funding
Russian PE firm VR Global Partners and Merrill Lynch International teamed up to acquire 95.1% of Elan from the Slovenian state holding company SDH in 2015.

Company
Elan is a manufacturer of winter sports clothing and equipment based in Ljubljana. It was put on a list of 15 state firms for privatisation in 2013 and was sold by the state holding company SDH, which coordinated these privatisations. It generated sales of €82.5m in 2017.

People
KJK Management – Kustaa Äimä (managing partner).

Advisers
Company – Freitag & Co (corporate finance).

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• Buyouts
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• Slovenia