Altor acquires SEK 421m Transcom stake

Mikkel Stern-Peltz
20 March 2015

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Altor has purchased 24.5% of publicly listed Swedish customer relationship management and debt collection company Transcom Worldwide for SEK 421m.

Altor acquired its stake from investment company Kinnevik, paying SEK 66 per share, in a deal that will see Altor become the largest single shareholder in Transcom.

The acquisition of 6.4 million shares marks the third transaction made through Altor IV, a 2014-vintage €2bn fund domiciled in Sweden, and is the second deal in which Altor has taken a minority stake in a listed company.

December's purchase of Spectrum shares was the first example of Altor's investment mandate in Altor IV, where the GP takes minority stakes in public companies and actively works with the board and management to generate value.

Altor will subsequently propose candidates to Transcom's board of directors as part of the transaction.

Speaking to unquote", an Altor spokesperson explained the GP has had a positive experience with investments of this type so far and that it differentiates them from other Nordic buyout firms.

The GP also said it has a remit to continue making similar investments but could not predict the extent to which this would occur.

Company
Founded by Kinnevik in 1995, Transcom is a customer relationship management company providing customer care, sales, technical support and credit management services through its contact centres.

Headquartered in Luxembourg but listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, the company employs 29,000 people in 54 centres in 23 countries.

Transcom had revenues of €653m in 2013, with gross operating profits of €131m.

People
Altor partner Klas Johansson led the deal for the GP.