IK builds housing exit

Industri Kapital (IK), the Nordic buyouts firm, has sold its two year investment in Prevesta, a Swedish producer of prefabricated houses, for around €204m to Norwegian housebuilder Block Watne Group (BWG).

The deal sees Inudstri Kapital become one of the largest shareholders in BWG as the consideration consists of approximately €131m in cash and just over 6.5 million in shares in BWG.

Michael Rosenlew, partner at IK, said “Prevesta has been a fantastic investment for us. During Industri Kapital’s ownership the company has improved its financial performance and has strengthened its position in Sweden to become the leading producer of single-family houses. The recent investments and restructuring efforts have also created the foundation for further growth and profitability for the company. We are also pleased to become a major owner in BWG and are impressed with the company’s strong performance during the past few years. The combined company has excellent prospects for further successful growth and development.”

Industri Kapital 2004 backed Prevesta in March 2005, and since that time the firm has overseen a rebranding exercise – which included the introduction of the brands Myresjöhus and SmålandsVillan – rationalised production techniques and made investments in production capacity such as building a factory in Sundsvall.

Lars Nilsen, president and CEO of BWG, said: ”BWG has, for a period of time, screened the market for possible acquisition targets outside of Norway. Swedish Prevesta, with its excellent brands Myresjöhus and SmålandsVillan, fulfils all the criteria BWG have defined for the evaluation process. Prevesta’s management has shown strength and ability to take action by managing to turn the company into a high performer. Management has displayed an ability to grow the business without margin erosion and has created a financially sound operation. The acquisition of Prevesta rests on a strong industrial logic and provides the foundation for future profitable growth for BWG.”