Polaris makes 4x on sale of Car-O-Liner to Snap-On

Car-O-Liner, a specialist in collision-repair equipment, generated a roughly 4x return in four years for Polaris Private Equity on its sale to Snap-On for $155 million, according to a source familiar with the Danish firm.

The sale marked the third of six exits from Copenhagen-based Polaris since last spring to produce at least a 4x multiple for the firm, which recently closed Polaris Private Equity IV with about $490 million in commitments, according to the source. It’s unclear which other two exits provided the strong return along with Car-O-Liner.

Polaris purchased Alignment Systems in 2012 from FSN Capital. At that time, Car-O-Liner was part of that company as an add-on to Alignment.

At the time of its sale to Snap-On, Car-O-Liner ranked as the fastest-growing and most profitable company in the collision-damage business, Polaris said in a statement.

Over the past four years, Car-O-Liner expanded its business as a systems provider to partnering with equipment producers worldwide as a seller of hardware, software and training in the repair space, Polaris said.

“We have now reached the targets we initially defined and profitability has been satisfactory indeed,” Jan Dahlqvist, a Polaris partner, said. “It is therefore reasonable that the company now becomes part of a global organization with longstanding industry experience dating back to the twenties.”

Jefferies provided financial advice to Polaris on the deal.

Action Item: Polaris: http://polarisequity.dk/about-polaris/

A Hungarian mechanic fixes a bumper in a car-repair shop on the outskirts of Budapest on September 21, 2016. Photo courtesy Reuters/Laszlo Balogh