MVI closes MVI Fund II above target

Elm Capital acted as global placement agent for the fund, PwC advsied on tax and Wigge & Partners acted as legal counsel. 

MVI is a Sweden-based private equity firm that generally invests in the small-cap segment. MVI Fund II was lauched in 2020 and held a first close in June 2020 on SEK 688m, MVI partner Stefan Karlsson told Unquote.

The GP concentrates on acquiring majority stakes in profitable companies with good operational performance and the potential for organic growth, though it also makes add-on acquisitions, according to Unquote Data. The vehicle will have a particular focus on companies in the Nordic region, particularly Sweden, according to a press release.

Speaking to Unquote, Karlsson said: "The fund is now around 25% deployed. Our ideal equity ticket size is around SEK 75m-150m, but that does not mean we cannot go smaller. We do a lot of buy-and-build, so we can start smaller, but the end game is somewhere around that figure. The fund will target companies based in the Nordic region."

The fund has three main focus areas: "The first is demographic, the second is social change, and, finally, circularity, which is our core strategy," said Karlsson. "A lot of our products are digitalised – that does not mean we want to buy digital companies, we want to make analogue companies more digital. You can see all that reflected in some of our portfolio companies."

Karlsson told Unquote that the fund's deal pipeline is very healthy: "It looks brilliant. We had a very good dealflow. We have four platform investments and we are working on a fifth, and they all have add-on potential. We want to focus on our proprietary flow to avoid going into extremely competitive processes. I cannot comment on the fifth investment platform as it is undisclosed. I can say that it is a buy-and-build project."

MVI closed its first fund, MVI Fund I, in March 2016 on SEK 500m. The fund focused on buyouts of Nordic companies with sales of SEK 50m-250m.

Investors
EIF is the cornerstone investor for the fund and other investors are based mainly in the Nordic region. The GP has also made a significant investment in the fund, at an undisclosed amount. Elm Capital is the exclusive global placement agent for the fund, according to Unquote Data.

Investments
MVI Fund II will invest in 8-10 Nordic companies and has no sector focus. Thus far, it has invested in Biototal, a Sweden-based business support service, in November 2020; and PS Auction, a Sweden-based internet service. It intends to have a holding period of six to seven years and will follow a buy-and-build strategy.

Karlsson said: "We have had strong support from existing investors in our first fund, which comprised Nordic family offices and private investors. What has happened now is the investor base has broadened; it now consists of investors outside of the Nordic region and Sweden, as well as institutional investors. That was our strategy, and we achieved that between the closing of the first fund and the second."

People
MVI Advisors – Stefan Karlsson, Daniel Nilsson (partners).

Advisers
Equity – Elm Capital (global placement agent); PwC (tax); Wigge & Partners (legal). 

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