Nordic Capital buys CPS Color

Mid-market buyouts house Industri Kapital (IK) is to sell CPS Color Group, a Finnish supplier of advanced tinting systems, to Nordic Capital. The transaction value has not been disclosed.

IK acquired CPS Color, formerly known as Tikkurila CPS, in 2000. Based in Vantaa, near Helsinki, the company specialises in tinting systems and related technology, and is a one-stop-shop for the tinting industry: it provider colorants, dispensers, mixers, software, marketing materials, technical support and consulting services.

In the last eight years, the company has been restructured, both operationally and organisationally, and grown organically by strengthening its R&D. It has made one acquisition, that of Corob, a Swiss maker of tinting machines, in 2002.

Michael Rosenlew, partner at Industri Kapital said: “Under IK’s ownership, CPS Color has been significantly reorganised and restructured. We have worked closely with the management team to implement operational improvements while at the same time executing acquisition-driven growth. Today CPS Color is a much stronger company than when we acquired it with a unique profile and market leading position.”

It is IK’s second exit this year, behind the 3x return it made on the €222m sale of Swedish electronic components retail business ELFA, an electronic components retail business. It is also Nordic Capital’s second investment of 2008, the first coming in April when it acquired Finnish IT services business TietoEnator Corporation for €1.1bn. Since then the firm has also acquired, alongside Avista Capital Partners, ConvaTec, a wound treatment product company.