Ratos and Litorina exit BTJ Group

Ratos and Litorina together own all the shares in BTJ Group and have concluded an agreement to transfer them either to Samuelson or to an acquisition company controlled by him. Ratos's holding in BTJ amounts to 66%.

Due to the company's limited value, Ratos has not reported BTJ separately as a holding since 2011. The holding is included in the amount Ratos reports as net central income.

The purchase price for all the shares amounts to SEK 1, as the company is currently struggling with losses. Taking the company's net debt into account, the purchase price corresponds to an enterprise value of SEK 43m.

The company posted an adjusted loss before tax of SEK 1m in 2012 and is set to make another SEK 3m loss in 2013. The sale will not generate any significant capital gain or loss for Ratos.

Ratos had been conducting a sale process of BTJ Group for approximately six months. There were a few external parties interested in the business, but Ratos deemed BTJ chairman Per Samuelson to be the best buyer because of his knowledge of the company.

Ratos told unquote" that BTJ Group has a strong market position in a healthy trade. However, to Ratos the company is a residue of the 2004 Infodata deal and has no value; the firm would rather spend resources and staff on a new investment.

Ratos expects the sale to go through before the summer, following regulatory approval.

Company
Founded in 2005 and based in Lund, BTJ is a supplier of media products and information services, primarily to libraries in Sweden and Finland.

Ratos became an owner of BTJ Group in conjunction with the formation of BTJ Infodata in March 2004. Following the formation of Bisnode in 2005, BTJ Infodata Group was split and BTJ Group became a separate holding.

People
Susanna Campbell is the CEO of Ratos. Per Samuelson is chairman of the board of BTJ.

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