Polaris mandates EY to exit Det Danske Madhus

Carl-Johan Kullving
07 February 2022

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Polaris Private Equity has hired EY as sell-side adviser on the GP's exit of Det Danske Madhus, a Danish catering company, five sources familiar with the matter said.

The asset is marketed based on 2021 EBITDA of around DKK 70m (EUR 9.4m) and 2021 revenues of DKK 329m (EUR 44.2m), according to three sources familiar with the situation. Det Danske Madhus reported 2020 EBITDA of DKK 65m (cEUR 8.7m) and 2020 revenues of DKK 319m (cEUR 42.8m), according to its annual report.

The process is in its early stages, with conversations already taking place with potential bidders, but the sell-side is waiting for updated financial figures before kicking off the sale process, three sources familiar said.

Polaris announced the final close of Polaris Private Equity V on its hard-cap of EUR 650m late last month, as reported by Unquote.

Det Danske Madhus is a catering company that serves mainly elderly homes and public institutions, but also private clients. It is headquartered in Thisted, Denmark, and has five other offices in the country with around 190 employees, according to Polaris Equity's website.

The company's focus on public institutions as clients has benefited it in the way that it has not been affected by the pandemic, but the question is how the company can grow, two of the sources said.

"The public sector clients for Madhus have probably been fine during the pandemic, it's a big part of their business that are public institutions," one of the sources said. "But how easy is it to grow there? I would assume that an international expansion and more private catering clients would be the way forward for a PE house here."

Polaris acquired its majority stake in the company in 2014.

Polaris and Det Danske Madhus declined to comment. EY did not respond to requests for comment.