Bridgepoint acquires Ratos's NCG in SEK 4.7bn SBO

Ratos stated it will receive approximately SEK 1.7bn from the sale of its 58% stake, equivalent to a profit of SEK 900m and an IRR of 42%.

Under Bridgepoint’s ownership, NCG will seek to expand its operations through investment in new sites. It will also invest in the further development and modernisation of its existing cinemas.

Capital for the transaction was drawn from Bridgepoint Capital V, which launched in May 2014 and held a final close on its €4bn hard-cap in March 2015. The previous month, the vehicle made its first investment when it acquired 245 ASK Italian and Zizzi restaurants from Cinven for £250m.

A senior debt package has been arranged to support the NCG acquisition, unquote” understands, the details of which are to be announced shortly.

Bonnier will reinvest as part of the deal, acquiring a minority stake alongside the company's management.

In recent months Per Frankling, the investment director who represented Ratos on the NCG board, left his role to take up the position of CEO at investment company Creades.

Previous funding
Ratos originally invested in NCG when it wholly acquired Finnish cinema chain Finnkino Oy from Sanoma for an enterprise value of €94.3m in March 2011. The firm invested €50m of equity in the deal, stating it intended to expand upon the business’s 25 existing sites.

Two years later, Finnkino Oy and Bonnier-owned SF Bio merged to create the largest cinema group in the Nordic region. Ratos took a 58% stake as part of the deal, with Bonnier taking 40% and management retaining 2%.

Company
Headquartered in Stockholm and founded in 2013 following the merger of SF Bio and Finnkino Oy, NCG is a cinema operator in the Nordic and Baltic regions. The business comprises 66 sites, generating a turnover of SEK 2.61bn and EBITDA of SEK 533m.

NCG stated it currently has a 44% share of Nordic box office revenues. The group owns four brands across six markets, including SF Bio in Sweden, Finnkino in Finland, SF Kino in Norway and Forum Cinemas in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

People
Mikael Lövgren is chair of Bridgepoint in the Nordic region. Susanna Campbell is CEO of Ratos. Jan Bernhardsson is CEO of NCG.

Advisers
Equity – Access Partners (M&A); Nomura (M&A); KPMG (Financial due diligence, tax, IT due diligence); Boston Consulting Group (Commercial due diligence); Pragma (Commercial due diligence); Hannes Snellman (Legal); Wiersholm (Legal); Sorainen (Legal); Travers Smith (Legal); Marsh (Insurance due diligence).
Management – Hansen Law (Legal); Castlegreen Partners (Corporate finance).

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• Topics
• Exits
• Nordics
• Consumer
• Sweden
• Bridgepoint
• Ratos Holding