Aurelius in conversations with sponsors for NDS Group exit

Teasers have been distributed and conversations with private equity firms have been ongoing for some time, the sources said.

Danske Bank has been mandated as sell-side adviser, two of the sources said.

The auction is expected to kick off in H1 2022, one source said, adding that the company's EBITDA is around EUR 10m.

Aurelius acquired NDS, then called Hellanor, from Nordic Forum Holding in 2018.

NDS reported 2020 EBITDA of NOK 28m (around EUR 2.7m), up from NOK 14m in 2019; its revenues stood at NOK 655m in 2020, a 5.8% increase on the NOK 619m reported in the previous year. The company invested heavily in developing an IT system for workshop clients in 2019 and 2020, partly explaining the EBITDA drop from 2018, when it booked NOK 88m, according to NDS's annual report.

Headquartered in Skytta, Norway, NDS is the country's second largest automotive aftermarket wholesaler. Its customer base consists mainly of local wholesalers, car dealerships and automotive workshops, to which it supplies spare parts from 20 locations across Norway, according to Aurelius's website.

In November, NDS announced the acquisition of Norwegian equipment distributor Nordic Lift. At the end of 2020, it acquired Norwegian maritime company Sola Shipping.

Aurelius and Danske Bank declined to comment. NDS did not return requests for comment.

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