Private Equity News & Analysis

Industri Kapital buys Moventas

Nordic private equity firm Industri Kapital is making its first investment this year, by buying most of the shares in a transmission equipment manufacturer owned by private equity firm CapMan.

-

Industri Kapital, a Nordic buyout firm, is buying a 58 percent stake in Moventas, a mechanical transmission equipment manufacturer, from CapMan, a rival group, for an undisclosed amount.  CapMan previously held a 77 percent stake and has made a return of four times its original investment.

Moventas: transmission equipment manufacturer

CapMan will remain a minority shareholder in the business with 16 percent.  Varma, a Finnish pension insurer, will own four percent and management will own 22 percent.

A spokeswoman for Industri Kapital said there is a strong end market outlook in both wind and industrial gears businesses.  She said the firm was also attracted to Moventas because it has large untapped potential.  Industri Kapital will continue organic expansion and pursue acquisition opportunities. 

The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2007.

CapMan bought Moventas in 2005 from Mesto Corporation, a Finnish technology corporation, for an undisclosed amount.  Moventas has its headquarters in Jyväskylä, Finland, and generated net sales of €207 million ($267 million) in 2006, an increase of 25 percent on 2005.  The company has operations in Finland, Germany, Sweden, Canada, the US and Singapore.

Moventas is Industri Kapital’s first investment in 2007.  One of the firm’s last acquisitions of 2006 was Attendo, the largest care services company for older and disabled people in the Nordic region, which it bought from Bridgepoint, a European private Equity firm, for an undisclosed amount.

Industri Kapital manages almost €4 billion and is understood to be launching a fund early this year with a target of more than €1 billion.