Nordic Capital exits Thule in SEK 7bn IPO

Thule's share price had risen by 14% to around SEK 80 per share within 30 minutes of trading beginning on OMX Stockholm.

The company's share price was set at SEK 70 per share, falling just above the mid-point of the SEK 64-74 range announced ahead of the flotation.

The overallotment option of 3.9 million shares was fully exercised, meaning 30% of the company will be in free float and Nordic Capital's ownership has been reduced to around 64.3%.

Nordic Capital's lock-up period for its remaining shares is 180 days.

Thule's management will own shares and preferred stock options worth approximately SEK 30m following the IPO.

Nordic Capital's listing of Thule went ahead despite a turbulent Q4 so far for the Nordic stock markets, which included the bankruptcy of Altor-backed OW Bunker.

Under Nordic Capital's ownership, Thule underwent a streamlining process, bringing down the number of employees from 4,000 at the time of acquisition to 2,200 today.

Most recently, Thule split its towbar division into a standalone business in September, having sold off its US towing systems operations in June 2009.

Goldman Sachs and Nordea Bank acted as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners on the IPO, with Morgan Stanley the third joint bookrunner. Danske Bank and DNB Markets were co-lead managers on the flotation.

Previous funding
The IPO comes after 15 years of private equity ownership for Thule.

It was bought by Nordic Capital 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.

Thule 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 people 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
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