Nordic Capital sells SEK 2bn stake in Thule

The GP sold 20 million shares at SEK 98 per share, following strong growth since it floated the company in November 2014 at SEK 70 per share. Following the sell-down, Nordic Capital will retain a 44.3% stake in the business.

Goldman Sachs and Nordea led the bookbuilding for the share offer, which was originally for 15 million shares but was subsequently increased to 20 million as a result of strong demand from investors.

Thule shares opened the day on Nasdaq Stockholm slightly down from the previous closing price of SEK 98, but were recovering at the time of publication.

Previous funding
Thule was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in November 2014, after 15 years of private equity ownership.

Nordic Capital purchased the business in a €1.3bn secondary buyout from Candover in 2007. The buyout was made through the GP's €1.9bn Nordic Capital VI fund, with Fund VII also acquiring a stake in the following years.

The exit generated a 2.5x money multiple for Candover, which had bought the group from EQT for €465m in 2004. EQT was the first private equity house to acquire Thule, buying the company for €80m in 1999.

The business also underwent a substantial restructuring in 2008, when seven Nordic banks agreed to strengthen its capital base and deleverage the business.

Company
Headquartered in Malmö, Thule is a manufacturer of carrier products, such as rooftop cargo boxes for cars, bike carriers and smartphone covers.

The group was founded in 1942 and had sales of SEK 4.3bn last year. It employs 2,200 staff across 10 production facilities.

People
Nordic Capital partner and Thule board member Hans Eckerström worked on the IPO for the GP. Magnus Welander is the CEO of Thule.

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• Topics
• Nordics
• Exits
• Consumer
• Nordic Capital
• Partial sale
• Sweden