Altor sells Lindorff to Nordic Capital in €2.3bn deal

The deal includes a conditional shareholder note with a potential value of no more than €200m plus 8% annual interest, which is dependent on the return on the new equity investment. Altor's share of the note will be 42%, equating to a maximum of €84m.

Nordic Capital made the acquisition through its Nordic Capital Fund VIII.

Both previous owners will retain minority holdings in the company, of which Altor will retain a maximum of €132.3m while Investor will retain up to €182.7m, totalling €315m. Altor and Investor, the Wallenberg family's investment vehicle, previously held 42% and 58% of the company respectively.

Lindorff has previously been considered a strong candidate for an IPO, with Altor founding partner Harald Mix telling unquote" in January that the company was an exciting case for the stock exchange.

Following the divestment to Nordic Capital, Altor head of communications Tor Krusell told unquote" that, having owned Lindorff for more than 10 years, the firm had looked for different ways to exit the business and had considered all options.

Krusell added that Altor believes Nordic Capital is as close as possible to an industrial owner, as it already has several holdings in industries similar to Lindorff's.

The deal is expected to be completed in Q4 2014.

Previous funding
Altor bought Lindorff for €163m from Norwegian insurance company Gjensidige in 2004 through its Altor 2003 Fund, though Gjensidige remained a minority shareholder. Investor AB acquired 50% of the company in 2008 for €360m, with Altor keeping the remaining half of the shares.

Company
Lindorff is a debt collection agency founded in Norway in 1898. Headquartered in Oslo, it had net revenues of €450m in 2013, and currently employs around 3,000 people in 11 countries, including the Nordic countries, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain.

People
Partners Harald Mix and Hugo Maurstad, as well as director Klas Johansson, worked on the deal for Altor. Kristoffer Melinder is a managing partner at Nordic Capital while Andreas Näsvik is a principal. Director Joakim Andreasson and investment managers Johan Lunden and Joel Davidkin were also involved.

Endre Rangnes is the CEO of Lindorff and Börje Ekholm is CEO of Investor AB.

Advisers

Equity – Bain & Co (Commercial due diligence); EY (Financial due diligence, IT due diligence, tax); Deutsche Bank (M&A); White & Case (Legal); Wiersholm (Legal); Accura (Legal); Van Doorne (Legal).

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