Summa sells Lakers for 5x money

Around SEK 250m (EUR 25m) will be reinvested into Vestum, according to a statement.

The exit has generated a return of 5x money for the GP, according to a source close to the situation. Summa declined to comment.

Summa acquired Lakers in 2018, investing via its debut fund, which held a final close on its hard-cap of SEK 4.5bn (EUR 477m) in February 2017. The fund was fully deployed as of March 2019, according to Unquote Data. The vehicle deployed equity tickets of EUR 10m-50m, with an average ticket of around EUR 35m.

The company made 14 add-ons in the Nordic region, the UK and Germany during the investment period. Summa said in a statement that the company's revenues have increased fourfold and its operating results sixfold since 2018. The company posted revenues of SEK 280m (EUR 26m) at the time of Summa's initial investment.

In addition, the company's operations are in line with the UN's sixth Sustainable Development Goal: to ensure clean water and sanitation. Summa said in a statement that it has measured the impact of the company during the investment period, setting ESG goals including working towards a more equal workforce and increasing the share of electricity usage sourced from renewable energy sources.

Further exits from Summa's debut fund include the SEK 4bn (EUR 393m) SBO of construction waste collector Sortera Skandinavien to Nordic Capital in March 2021, as well as the GP's trade sale of antibody and antigen producer HyTest to Mindray in May 2021 for EUR 545m. The returns generated by the sale of Lakers are in line with those scored by other exits from the fund, the same source said, given that all exits to date have generated returns of at least 5x money.

Summa is now deploying equity via Summa Equity Fund II, which held a final close in February 2019 on SEK 6.5bn (EUR 627m). The fund's recent investments include the acquisition in July of a 50% stake in Norway-based Nofitech, a developer of modular recirculating aquaculture systems.

Company
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Oslo, Lakers provides waste and wastewater pump rental, maintenance and product manufacturing services. The company aims to reduce water supply loss and to install more efficient pump systems. Lakers posted 2020 revenues of SEK 630m (EUR 62m), a 3% increase on the previous year, according to a statement.

People
Summa Equity – Christian Melby (partner, chief investment officer); Johannes Lien (principal).
Lakers – Carl-Johan Callenholm (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – Cederquist (legal); Selmer (legal).

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