Sunstone divests stake in Asetek for NOK 150m

Following the transaction, Sunstone retains ownership of around 1.6 million shares, equal to 6.2% of the share capital of Asetek.

Shares were sold through an accelerated bookbuilding process at a price of NOK 95 per share. At the time of publishing, shares were trading for NOK 91.5 on the Oslo Børs. 

The VC firm intends to distribute the proceeds of NOK 150m to Vækstfonden, the Danish growth fund, to reinvest the proceeds in other Danish growth companies. Sunstone invested in Asetek through its Sunstone Technology Ventures Fund I, which is backed by the Danish state investment fund.

Sunstone's latest vehicle, the Sunstone Progression Alpha fund, was launched by Sunstone Technology Ventures and held a final close in November 2017 on €47m, according to Unquote Data. It focuses on growth firms, taking part in later-stage financing rounds for portfolio companies that raise €25m or more in a single round.

Previous funding
Asetek secured a €4m first round of funding from new investors Northzone Ventures and the Danish growth fund Vækstfonden, alongside existing investors, in March 2006. Business angels had previously injected capital into the company. With the fresh capital, Asetek opened an office in Silicon Valley in the first quarter of 2006, and recruited 25 people in Europe, the US and Asia.

The chip-cooling company received a $4m follow-on investment from Northzone, Vækstfonden, KT Venture Group and a group of private investors in January 2007. With the capital, it opened offices in Taipei and Hong Kong, as well as hiring 10 new employees within Europe, the US and Asia.

Asetek completed its IPO on the Oslo Stock Exchange in March 2013. Northzone and Sunstone both partially exited as part of the IPO. They committed to selling up to 20% of their holdings to create enough free flow. Northzone sold 231,500 shares while Sunstone parted with 250,700, retaining 1,540,472 and 1,668,255 shares respectively.

The stakes were sold at NOK 36 per share, raising $25m of fresh capital and giving the company a market capitalisation of $93m.

Carnegie and Arctic Securities acted as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners for Asetek's offering.

Company
Founded in 2000 and established in Bronderslev, Denmark, Asetek is a provider of liquid cooling services for high-end computers, aiming to generate higher performance, lower noise and reduce power.

The company moved its main office to San Jose, California, in 2006. It changed back into a Danish company prior to the IPO and is headquartered in Aalborg, east Denmark. Asetek has further operations in California, Texas, China and Taiwan.

Asetek posted revenue of NOK 481.4m in 2017, with a net income of NOK 37m.

People
Sunstone Capital – Jørgen Smidt (partner).
Vækstfonden – Christian Motzfeldt (CEO).
Asetek – Andre Sloth Eriksen (CEO/founder).

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