Norvestor Equity sells Wexus to TDR-backed Algeco

Alessia Argentieri
05 June 2020

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Norvestor Equity has sold its majority stake in Wexus Gruppen, a supplier of modular buildings, to London-based Algeco Group, a portfolio company of TDR Capital.

The acquisition will help Algeco, a business services company specialising in modular buildings, to strengthen its position in the Nordic region, according to a statement.

TDR Capital acquired Algeco in 2004 and has since bolted on a number of companies, and listed two of its North American businesses. The company is a TDR Capital II portfolio company and it generated €55m EBITDA from €226m in 2019.

Norvestor bought a majority stake in Wexus in September 2017. The GP invested via Norvestor VII, which closed on its hard-cap of €510m in February 2016. The buyout vehicle invests in small and medium-sized companies based across Norway and Sweden, with enterprise values of NOK 150m-1.5bn.

Under Norvestor's ownership, Wexus achieved significant growth, expanded in the Swedish market and doubled its production capacity. The company increased its turnover from NOK 70m in 2016 to NOK 297m in 2019, with an annual growth of 62%.

Norvestor hired Carnegie to run a sale process for the company in May, according to press reports.

Company
Founded in 2014, Wexus is a supplier of modular buildings for rigs as well as canteens, offices, schools, kindergartens and welfare buildings. Its customer base includes governmental agencies and the oil and gas, shipbuilding, infrastructure and utilities industries. Modules are either sold or provided on long-term rental agreements.

The company is headquartered in Stavanger, Norway, with operations in Sweden and a production facility in Tallinn, Estonia. It employs 110 staff and generates revenues of NOK 297m.

People
Norvestor Equity – Tor Erling Gunnerød (partner).
Algeco Group – Mark Higson (CEO).
Wexus Gruppen – Egil Messmer (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – Carnegie (corporate finance); PwC (financial due diligence); Arkwright (financial due diligence); Schjødt (legal).