Nordic Capital carves out Full Service from ABB

The deal sees Nordic Capital carve out Full Service from ABB and establish a standalone company to be headed by Sabrina Vilhena, who will take the reigns as CEO, coming from a position as head of finance for the division.

Full Service was bought through Nordic Capital Fund VIII – the deal is expected to be completed in Q4 of this year, marking Nordic Capital's sixth investment in the last three months.

ABB's sale of the division was arranged through a structured process round and auction in spring, with Nordic Capital making the winning offer over the summer.

John Hedberg, principal at NC Advisory, told unquote" the GP was attracted to the solid market fundamentals in Full Services' sector of outsourced industrial services, as well as a growing market and a growing trend of companies outsourcing service and maintenance.

Nordic Capital was impressed by the company's market position and sees good opportunities to help grow the company further on a separate growth path, and Hedberg pointed out that the GP has experience of successful industrial carve-outs.

Plans for the company going forward involve further investment in sales resources, according to Hedberg.

He said the GP is expecting Full Service to be able to grow faster than the market as a separate entity, both within its existing core industrial segment, but also through venturing into related industries, such as food and beverage.

The company will retain the ABB name for a transitional period, after which Full Service will be relaunched with a new brand and move its head offices to Stockholm following completion of the deal.

ABB's divestment is the most recent in a line of sell-offs from the company's portfolio over the past 11 months, which have raised around $1bn for the Zurich-headquartered power and automation technology group.

Company
Currently based in Prague, Full Service provides industrial maintenance services for production facilities and other customers.

The company operates globally, but has a particularly strong presence in Europe and the Nordic region. It employs 2,500 people in 30 countries.

ABB is listed on both the Stockholm and Zurich stock exchanges, as it was founded through a merger of Sweden's ASEA and Brown Boveri & Cie of Switzerland in 1988.

People
Nordic Capital adviser NC Advisory's principal John Hedberg worked on the deal, as did ABB CEO Ulrich Spieshoffer. Sabrina Vilhena will be promoted to CEO of the divested company following completion.

Advisers
Equity – Access Partners (Corporate finance); Baker & Mckenzie (Legal); EY (Financial due diligence); Bain (Commercial due diligence).

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