Verdane backs Bemz

The Swedish GP will acquire a 66% stake in the company through its Verdane Capital VIII fund while founder Lesley Pennington retains a stake of around 30% and four other investors hold the balance, according to Swedish media. It was also reported Bemz will receive a capital injection of SEK 25m as part of the deal.

The fresh funds will support the company's international growth, expanding on its current main markets of Sweden, France, Germany and the UK. The business aims to spend some of the funding on marketing, as well as expansion into the US.

Aside from supporting a bolt-on for existing portfolio company Babyshop, the deal for Bemz marks Verdane's first acquisition of 2015. The GP, which historically has been known for mainly investing in direct secondaries, has been more active on the sell-side this year, completing four exits.

Company
Bemz is a Swedish textile designer, producer and online retailer founded in 2005. The company mainly produces tailor-made covers for Ikea furniture, in addition to other home textile products such as curtains.

Located in Stockholm, Bemz employs 20 people and recorded EBIT of €53,000 in 2014, on revenues of €5.4m.

People
Björn Beckman represented Verdane Capital Advisors on the deal. Lesley Pennington is the founder of Bemz.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Nordics
• Consumer
• Buyouts
• Sweden
• Verdane Capital Partners