Proventus acquires Polestar Group from administration

Mikkel Stern-Peltz
29 March 2016

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Swedish direct lender Proventus Capital Partners has acquired UK printing company Polestar Group out of administration, under the newco Polestar UK Print.

Proventus Capital Partners (PCP) - owned by the family office of Sweden's Robert Weil, Proventus - was brought in as a shareholder and major lender to Polestar in 2015 as part of a £90m refinancing of the struggling company. The refinancing also saw Barclays provide £25m of debt.

PCP's initial refinancing in March 2015 predominantly covered the retirement of existing debt, as well as a £13m dividend payment to existing investor Sun Capital, with a very limited amount of additional capital to support Polestar. Florida-based GP Sun Capital injected £10m in October as the company continued to face financial difficulties, and in December PCP acquired the shareholding of Sun for £1, providing a £20m line of credit.

The company's financial difficulties had come as a result of a £54m investment in improved facilities and machinery in its Sheffield operations, which was delayed and caused disruption to the company's production ability, Polestar said.

After Sun Capital's withdrawal from Polestar, the board placed the company under PwC's administration and PCP agreed to buy out its business and assets from the administrators.

As the owner of Polestar, PCP will support the company's management in turning around the company into a sustainable and profitable business. Three Proventus employees will join the Polestar board: CEO Daniel Sachs will assume the role of chair, with investment directors Henrik Bjerklin and Anders Thelin joining as board members.

Previous funding
Polestar was acquired by Sun Capital in 2011 from a group of banks and credit funds, including London-based BlueBay Asset Management, with GE Capital providing debt for the deal. The company had gone into administration under the Pension Protection Fund after failing to inject a required £45m into its pension scheme.

Company
Headquartered in Dunstable, Polestar is an independent printing and content delivery company.

The business produces 50 million products a week, for a range of publications - including newspapers, magazines and reference publications - and employs a staff of 2,000.

People
Proventus Capital Partners - Daniel Sachs (CEO), Henrik Bjerklin (investment director), Anders Thelin (investment director).