Industri Kapital completes Nobia sale

Industri Kapital has sold its remaining shares in fitted kitchen company Nobia to a consortium of Swedish and international institutional investors. The fund has sold 14,662,848 shares for an undisclosed sum. This corresponds to 25.4% of the total number of shares and votes in Nobia.

Industri Kapital’s 1994 fund acquired a 95% stake in Nobia from Stora in 1996 and listed the company on Stockholm’s O-list in 2001, at which point it held a 58% stake. The initial public offering, priced at SEK78 per share, gave the company an enterprise value of SEK4.5bn and was approximately three times oversubscribed. The total number of shares sold at the IPO was 19,933,297 or 34.6% of Nobia’s capital. After floatation Industri Kapital held 38.4% of shares and was subject to a lock-up period before it could complete a second deal last year, through which it reduced its stake to 25.4%.

The Nordic group is currently seeking €2.5bn for its fifth fund, which last year held a first close at €500m.

Björn Savén, chief executive of Industri Kapital, said: “The Nobia investment is a good example of how buyouts can work. A clear vision of where the company and the industry were heading formed the basis. A focused strategy was executed by a very strong management supported by a dedicated owner. For Industri Kapital and its investors, this has been an exciting and rewarding journey.”