Polaris in €91m Avanti Wind trade sale

Polaris exits its 62% shareholding five years after its management buyout of Avanti, when it tapped its 2009-vintage €365m Polaris Private Equity III vehicle.

Since the investment in 2011, the group has seen revenue grow from around DKK 350m to DKK 740m in the last financial year, equivalent to an organic CAGR of around 19%, the GP said in a statement.

Listed Swedish elevator and platform group Alimak will acquire Polaris's entire shareholding in Avanti, financing the bolt-on with a rights issue of up to SEK 800m. The investment represents a 9.5x entry multiple of normalised 2016 EBITDA for Alimak and is expected to put the group's leverage level at around 3.7x EBITDA due to the bridge loan financing put in place until a rights issue is approved by the board.

Nordic private equity fund Triton is among Alimak's largest shareholders and forms part of a group with around 60% of votes and shares in the company that have expressed their support for the rights issue.

The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2017 and is subject to regulatory approvals.

Previous funding
In July 2011, Polaris completed the management buyout of Avanti, taking a 62% stake in the company. Existing backers and senior managers Torben Bjerre-Madsen, Aage Krog and Søren Midtgaard retained stakes of more than 5% each at the time.

Company
Founded in 1885 as a ladder factory, Avanti develops and manufactures elevators, ladders and security equipment for wind turbine towers.

The company is headquartered in Hillerød, north of Copenhagen, and employs a staff of 400 people across six production units and service units in nine countries.

According to a company statement, Avanti generated €95m of revenues in the 2015 financial year.

People
Polaris – Jan Johan Kühl (managing partner).

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• Topics
• Exits
• Industrials
• Nordics
• Polaris Private Equity
• Trade sale
• Denmark
• Triton Partners