If you thought we were done talking about take-privates this week, you thought wrong. A French PE firm, Cap10, has reportedly approached a London-listed provider of smart metering services. Apax on the other hand has called off a bid for Alliance Pharma, according to reports.
Outside take-private news, the Nordics have been popular this week. Polaris announced two deals, an acquisition of an infralogistics supplier and the completion of an MBO of a consulting business. I spoke with Inflexion to hear more about a Helsinki-based cash and treasury management company the firm has agreed to acquire. Nordic Capital announced a medtech deal, and while the target company is not from the Nordics, it still has a place in my round-up.
Elsewhere, we also have an exit to report on. Exponent has agreed to sell a provider of recycling and resource services to I Squared Capital.
Smart meters
Let’s kick off with the take-private news. Sureserve, a provider of social housing energy services, has received a takeover bid from Cap10, a French private equity group, according to a report by Sky News.
The offer would be pitched at a “significant premium” a source told Sky News, valuing Sureserve at £200 million (€227 million; $249 million). The company had a market capitalisation of £145 million at Thursday’s closing share price of 90p.
Dartford-headquartered Sureserve provides smart metering services to social housing landlords.
We’ve been following a flurry of take-private offers for UK firms. You can find the latest round-up of that coverage here.
No deal
Sticking with the take-private news for a little longer. Apax Partners has called off talks about a £400 million bid for Alliance Pharma, according to Sky News.
The London-listed company, with a market value of approximately £320 million, owns brands such as Forceval vitamin supplements and Nizoral shampoo. The company holds the marketing rights to around 80 consumer healthcare brands and prescription medicines.
Double vision
That should be enough take-private talk for the week. Next up, we have two deals by Nordic investment company Polaris.
The firm announced it has concluded the management buyout (MBO) of a Microsoft dynamics consulting business. The acquired business will be relaunched under the new brand name, Cepheo, with around 400 employees, according to a release.
Cepheo is a provider of Microsoft dynamics in Scandinavia and is located at 11 offices in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Poland.
“The industry outlook is strong, and our partnership is well-positioned for profitable growth and market share expansion as a strong and focused stand-alone business,” said Allan Bach Pedersen, partner at Polaris.
Copenhagen-based Polaris is the majority owner and co-invests in Cepheo alongside the management team.
Earlier in the week, Polaris picked up a majority share in Sealing System, a Scandinavian supplier of intralogistics and full-scope automated packaging and palletising lines.
Sealing System is based in Grindsted, Denmark. The company has around 155 employees at its facilities in Denmark, Norway, and Belgium.
Sealing System reported average annual revenue growth of 25 percent since 2019. The company saw revenue of over DKr 200 million (€26.84 million; $29.52 million) in 2022 with an EBITDA of DKr 20 million, according to a release.
Medtech
Nordic Capital will acquire a majority share in corpuls, a provider of emergency medical services and cardiac resuscitation.
Headquartered in Kaufering in Germany, corpuls reported revenues of €127 million in 2022 and employs 450 people.
“With this transaction, Nordic Capital is further strengthening its footprint as a partner to support innovative, mid-sized growth companies in the important German-speaking region,” said Rainer Lenhard, partner, and head of DACH, Nordic Capital Advisors.
Keep your eyes peeled for more in-depth coverage on this deal next week.
Cash management
The Nordics also came up in my story this week on Nomentia, a Helsinki-based cash and treasury management software provider. Inflexion agreed to acquire a majority stake in Nomentia from PSG Equity and Verdane, via its Inflexion Buyout Fund VI, in early March.
London-based Inflexion has been busy in the Nordics. The investment in Nomentia marks its fourth in the region, following its investment in EcoOnline in January. “We’re seeing more opportunities there because it’s probably one of the most active markets for us in tech,” Inflexion partner and head of technology Sergio Ferrarini told me.
You can read my full interview with Ferrarini here. For even more Nordics coverage, I wrote a round-up of deals in the region in December. You can read that here.
Recycling
Let’s travel back to the UK. Exponent has agreed to sell Enva, a provider of recycling and resource recovery services, to I Squared Capital.
Exponent first invested in Enva in 2017. The firm supported Enva to grow organically and via market consolidation, having completed 10 add on transactions since acquiring the company, according to a release.
Enva achieved significant revenue growth and delivered an EBITDA compound annual growth rate of 12 percent between 2017 and 2023.
“Under our ownership, the business has grown into a leading platform in its markets, doubled profits, and introduced a wide range of sustainable waste recovery and recycling solution,” said James Gunton, partner at Exponent.
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