Altor acquires Eleda; adds on JVAB and One Nordic

Eliza Punshi
12 May 2020

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Swedish private equity firm Altor has entered into definitive agreements to buy a majority stake in Swedish engineering company Eleda Group.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.

Following the deal, the GP will merge Eleda with Järfälla VA- & Byggentreprenad AB (JVAB) and One Nordic, which have been owned by Altor Fund III since 2011. The combined turnover of the enlarged group was SEK 6bn in 2019.

The GP will invest from its latest fund, Altor V, which held a final close in February 2019 on its €2.5bn target. The fund targets Nordic mid-market companies with enterprise values of €100-250m and revenues of €50-500m, and typically deploys equity tickets of €50m-150m.

The management of JVAB and One Nordic will remain as significant shareholders of the combined group, and continue in their respective operational management roles.

CEO and part owner Johan Halvardsson told Unquote sister publication Mergermarket in January 2020 that Eleda was holding late-stage talks with targets and that it aimed to divest one operation this spring to streamline the group.

Previous funding
In December 2019, Triton Partners sold its stake in Eleda back to its largest owners, Johan Halvardsson, Peter Condrup and other partners.

The GP in 2017 acquired Swedish company Akeab, a Swedish provider of excavation services and civil works in southern Sweden and built up the infrastructure services group through add-on acquisitions of Kewab in mid-western Sweden in November 2017 and Mark & Energibyggarna in April 2018.

Company
Founded in 2017 by Triton and headquartered in Stockholm, Eleda Infra Services Group is an infrastructure company that works on small to medium-sized civil engineering and transmission infrastructure projects, providing services across a range of sectors including water works, road works, energy works and data centers. The company operates through regional companies across southern and western Sweden and is made up of companies including Akeab, Kewab, Mark & Energibyggarna and Salboheds Bygg & Anläggningstjänster. It has 800 employees and generated sales of about SEK 3.1bn (€290.4m) in 2019.

JVAB, with 150 employees, reported sales of around SEK 700m in 2019. Malmö-headquartered One Nordic, with around 1,000 employees, posted sales of SEK 2.1bn in 2019. The company has been owned by Altor Fund III since 2011.

People
Altor – Bengt Maunsbach (partner).
Eleda Infra Services Group – Johan Halvardsson (CEO)
One Nordic – Jonas Arvidsson (CEO)

Advisers
Equity – Carnegie (financial due diligence); White & Case (legal).
Vendor – Vinge (legal).