EQT sells TitanX to Tata

The deal provides an exit for EQT's €375m lower mid-market vehicle EQT Opportunity, which completed nine buyouts between November 2006 and July 2008. TitanX is the fund's second exit in 2016, having sold Swedish garden centre group Granngården to Norwegian trade buyer Felleskjøpet in a SEK 410m trade sale.

EQT's exit from TitanX comes eight years after it first backed the company, acquiring what was then known as Valeo Engine Cooling in May 2008. The GP declined to comment on the transaction. A source with knowledge of the fund's performance said EQT Opportunity has underperformed for the GP, due to the nature of the timing of its investments. EQT decided to suspend further investments from the fund after the global financial crisis.

Swedish state-owned investment firm Fouriertransform will also exit its stake in the trade sale, which stood 38% when it invested in 2013.

Previous funding
EQT acquired Valeo Engine Cooling in a May 2008 carve-out from French automotive group Valeo. Five years later, Fouriertransform agreed to invest SEK 185m in the company for a 38% stake, which saw EQT's shareholding watered down - though it remained the majority shareholder.

Company
Headquartered in Gothenburg, TitanX is a manufacturer of powertrain cooling systems for commercial vehicles. The company sells its products predominantly to truck manufacturers, including Volvo Trucks, Scania, Daimler and Iveco.

TitanX claims to have SEK 1.6bn of turnover across its manufacturing facilities in Sweden, the US, Mexico, China and Brazil.

People
EQT – Magnus Hillestad (director).
TitanX – Stefan Nordström (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – BDA Partners (M&A); ABG Sundal Collier (corporate finance); Vinge (legal); Carnegie (corporate finance).

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• Topics
• Exits
• Nordics
• Industrials
• EQT
• Fouriertransform AB (FTAB)
• ABG Sundal Collier
• Carnegie
• Trade sale