Nilssons Gott AB (Sweden) - Dec 2007

unquote
01 December 2007

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Segulah III has acquired Nilssons Gott AB, a Swedish supplier of natural snacks for an undisclosed sum. The founder, Rolf E Nilsson, will retain 20% ownership in the business. The company was sold through a limited auction held by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Segulah was familiar with this business through its industrial network and was attracted to the deal due to its strong market position and relatively low cyclicality. The ‘healthy snack’ alternative is also experiencing an upswing in customers due to increasing health-awarness among consumers. The fit between the entrepreneur and the new owners also acted as an incentive. After developing the company for 20 years, Nilsson wanted to bring in a partner with industrial expertise to secure further growth. Organic growth and increasing distributions in the whole Nordic region will be Segulah’s focus going forward to continue to nurture the snack business. Debt structure Handelsbanken provided a senior debt package to support the transaction.

Company

Nilssons Gott was founded in the mid 1980s by Rolf E Nilsson. With the brand, Exotic Snacks, it supplies natural snacks to the Swedish market. The product includes a wide assortment of natural snacks and is based on nuts, rice, fruits and chocolate sold under a self-service concept. The business is also the agency for several well known brands including Seeberger, Jacquot, Cemoi, The Belgian, Gudrun and Daysun. Turnover for the current financial year is anticipated to be SEK 400m. It is headquartered in Stockholm and employs 70 people.

People

Segulah’s industrial adviser Peter Elfving, former CEO of Kraft Nordic, will become the chairman of the board of directors. In addition, former CEO of ICA and COOP Svante Nilsson and former CEO of Pressbyrån, ICA Menyföretagen and 7 Eleven, Björn Krasse, will join the board. Percy Calissendorff, partner at Segulah and Marcus Jansson, a junior partner at Segulah will also join the board. Jansson worked on the deal with Segulah associate Marcus Eriksson.

Advisers

Equity - Deloitte, (Financial Due Diligence)Equity - Gradient, (Commercial Due Diligence)Equity - Hammarskiöld & Co, (Legal)

Sourced from: Nordic unquote" 69 (Jan 2008)