Solix in SEK 200m Geveko take-private

Solix, a Copenhagen-based firm founded by former Altor partners Denis Viet-Jacobsen and Johan Cervin, lodged a bid with Geveko in June to acquire all of the shares in a new issue for around SEK 200m. The bid priced the new stock at SEK 1.03 per share – a 59% discount on the weighted volume average of the previous 30 days' trading price.

With the bid having been accepted by the company's majority shareholders, Solix currently holds 92% of Geveko through the holdco Via Pigmentum. Owners of the remaining 8% will see their stakes acquired at SEK 4 per share, after which the company will be delisted from the Stockholm Stock Exchange.

The deal comes after years of struggle for Geveko, which had previously considered a public placement to raise SEK 150-200m, but could not find demand for it. Geveko's board justified the discounted acquisition price on the basis of the company's leverage level, falling profitability and negative equity, the latter of which is around SEK 7.5 per share.

Solix's investment was made through its maiden fund, a vehicle that closed on a reported size of €270-300m in May 2014.

Company
Founded in Gothenburg in 1924, Geveko manufactures and sells road-marking materials, as well as providing contracting services.

Geveko's net debt was SEK 456.7m at the end of Q1 2015, and it has been in breach of its financial covenants with its bank since 2010, posting a SEK 44.4m post-tax loss in Q1 2015.

The company operates across Europe and employs 412 people in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Chile, China, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, the UK and Hungary.

People
Denis Viet-Jacobsen is the CEO of Solix and Johan Cervin is the chief operating officer. Göran Eklund is the managing director of Geveko.

An extraordinary shareholder meeting has been set for 2 September, where all the current board members will be replaced. Johan Cervin and Denis Viet-Jacobsen will take seats on the board, which Ola Erici is set to chair.

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