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  4. Lakers Group: Successful placement of inaugural sustainability-linked bond

Lakers Group: Successful placement of inaugural sustainability-linked bond

Lakers Group AB (publ) (“Lakers Group”, the “Company”), a leading and independent aftermarket service provider of water and wastewater pumps, has successfully completed a senior secured sustainability-linked bond issue of NOK 750 million with maturity in 2025 (the “Bond Issue”).

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2 min read

The transaction marks majority-owner Summa Equity’s entry to the Nordic bond market and is the first sustainability-linked bond issued by a private equity-backed company. The net proceeds from the Bond Issue will be employed towards repaying existing debt and preference shares, a shareholder distribution and general corporate purposes including acquisitions. The Bond Issue will have a borrowing limit of NOK 2bn to support M&A, incurrence-based covenants and a margin of 5.5%. The transaction received strong demand from tier 1 institutional credit investors across the Nordic region, Continental-Europe and the UK, and was multiple times oversubscribed.

The successful completion of Lakers’ sustainability-linked bond is an important milestone for both Lakers and Summa Equity, confirming the strong investor interest in sustainable investing. With the new financing in place, we look forward to entering the next phase of Lakers’ growth journey with continued expansion across Northern Europe, says Johannes Lien, Principal at Summa Equity and board member of Lakers.

“We are pleased to see the positive response from the investors, recognizing Laker’s contribution to ensuring available and sustainable management of water and wastewater, as well as showing confidence in our business model and growth strategy. The new financial structure will allow us to accelerate our expansion outside the Nordic region, and we are looking forward to take the next step in our development,” says Carl-Johan Callenholm, CEO of Lakers.

In connection with the financing, the Company has developed a sustainability-linked bond framework (“SLBF”), linking the Bond Issue to three material and ambitious sustainability performance targets (“SPTs”) related to reducing the CO2 footprint. The SLBF has been verified to a strong B rating by The Governance Group.

Arctic Securities acted as global coordinator, sustainability structuring advisor, and joint lead manager, Pareto Securities, and Swedbank acted as joint lead managers in connection with the placement of the Bond Issue.

For further information, please contact:

Johannes Lien
Principal, Summa Equity and Board member, Lakers Group
+46 722 06 69 00
Johannes.Lien@summaequity.com

Hannah Gunvor Jacobsen
Head of IR, Summa Equity
+47 936 41 960
hannah.jacobsen@summaequity.com

Carl-Johan Callenholm
CEO Lakers Group
+47 900 97 806
cj.callenholm@lakersgroup.com

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  4. Summa Equity has agreed to sell HyTest to Mindray for €545 million

Summa Equity has agreed to sell HyTest to Mindray for €545 million

Summa Equity has signed a definitive agreement to sell HyTest, a leading developer and producer of high-performance antibodies and antigens to Mindray, a leading global medical technology company for total consideration of approximately €545 million.

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3 min read

Since Summa Equity’s acquisition of HyTest in 2018, the company has continued to develop its industry leading antibodies and antigens product portfolio, maintaining and growing market leading positions in several key segments, including cardiac markers, inflammation and infectious diseases. HyTest’s products cover over 20 disease groups and yearly provides antibodies and antigens for in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests run on over 300 million patients globally. The company contributes to improve SDG #3 and patient outcomes. The development has been possible due to the company’s exceptional scientific expertise, strong R&D capabilities, and superior product quality.

Our investment in HyTest was founded in Summa Equity’s philosophy of investing to solve global challenges. In the case of HyTest our investment thesis was focused on global changing demographics and how those demographic changes are impacted by good health and wellbeing. HyTest’s reputation as a globally recognized leader in the antibodies and antigens space with a reputation for exceptional quality and innovation aligns perfectly with Summa Equity’s philosophy. We are very excited for HyTest to continue its journey under the Mindray umbrella, and we view HyTest’s pending acquisition by Mindray (a very large global leader in healthcare) as validating Summa Equity’s investment philosophy. We are proud to have supported HyTest through its evolution, which included consistent double-digit year on year revenue growth, and its on-going commitment to delivering the best products and customer service, says Tommi Unkuri, Partner at Summa Equity.

HyTest is one of the largest IVD-focused suppliers in the world with a sticky and loyal customer base and preferred supplier status with many of its 2,000+ customers including the leading global IVD companies.

We are delighted to partner with Mindray as we look forward to the future in delivering the best products and customer service to our global customers. Mindray is the ideal strategic partner for HyTest, and we are excited to join its team and to continue on our journey of providing the highest quality antibodies and antigens, comments Juhana Rauramo, CEO of HyTest.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Completion of the transaction is expected in the second half of the year.

William Blair has been acting as exclusive financial advisor and Avance has been acting as exclusive legal advisors to HyTest.

For further information, please contact:

Hannah Gunvor Jacobsen
Head of IR, Summa Equity
+47 93 64 19 60
hannah.jacobsen@summaequity.com

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  4. Summa Equity acquires Holdbart, Norway’s leading surplus food retailer

Summa Equity acquires Holdbart, Norway’s leading surplus food retailer

Through the acquisition of Holdbart, Summa Equity enters the rapidly growing surplus food industry.

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3 min read

Holdbart is a Norwegian fast-moving consumer goods retailer reducing food waste by selling affordable surplus food from producers and wholesalers. Holdbart’s products are sold at a discount as they are near or just passed its best-before date, overproduced, seasonal inventory or packaged in a way making the food item not convenient for conventional food retailers to handle.

  • By tackling the problem of food waste, Holdbart was a great fit for Summa Equity – which is investing to solve global challenges and among other things is focusing on resource efficiency. We are honoured to have been chosen by Holdbart’s founders to partner for the next and exciting phase of the company’s development, says Martin Gjølme, Partner at Summa Equity.

In Norway alone, 417k tons of food, or about 80 kg per capita, is wasted each year. This represents about NOK 20bn in lost monetary value and 1.26m tons of CO2 – about the same emissions as the city of Oslo produces in a year.[1] The issue is also addressed by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), #2 (zero hunger) and #12 (responsible consumption and production).

  • “A large portion of the food waste (80k tons) is generated by the wholesale and food industry. Edible food will be sold through Holdbart rather than being discarded – for the benefit of the environment, our suppliers that get compensated and the conscious customers that get access to affordable food”, says Marius Bengston, Principal at Summa.

Holdbart was founded in 2015 by Trond J. Laeng and Thor Johansen, both with long careers in the Norwegian retail and convenience industry. Since then, eight physical Holdbart outlets have been established in the larger Oslo area, as well as in Arendal, Skien, Stavanger and Trondheim. Holdbart also has its own online grocery store.

  • “We are pleased to get Summa Equity on board. Their vision of “turning challenges in society into opportunities and solutions,” is exactly what we want to achieve. They will provide the knowledge and capital needed to capture the vast opportunities in the surplus food industry,” says Thor Johansen.

Holdbart’s priorities in the coming period will be continued expansion of outlets, heightened visibility and professionalization of the business and its offerings, as well as developing partnerships with food producers and wholesalers for additional supply of goods.

  • Our future success relies on our ability to identify new and maintain existing supplier relationships. Building long-term and large-scale industry collaborations is a win-win.

“Therefore, we are very pleased that so many food producers and wholesalers have been supportive of the initiative and let us purchase their goods rather than letting it go to waste,” says Trond Laeng.

The two founders and existing management will co-invest with Summa Equity and continue their engagement in the company.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Completion of the transaction is expected in Q2 2021.

For interviews or more information, please contact:

Hannah Gunvor Jacobsen, Investment Director og Head of IR Summa Equity
+47 93 64 19 60
Hannah.Jacobsen@summaequity.com

Thor Johansen
+47 907 72 150
thor@holdbart.no

[1] https://www.klimaoslo.no/2021/02/23/klimagassregnskap-for-oslo-2019/#:~:text=Oslos%20utslipp%20av%20klimagasser%20sank,og%20sj%C3%B8fart%2C%20hadde%20reduserte%20utslipp.

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  4. Metrics that matter – how Olink is creating a data-driven culture

Metrics that matter – how Olink is creating a data-driven culture

Back in 2017, The Economist published a story titled, ”The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data”. We’re living in a digital economy where data is more valuable than ever, so this expression is even more relevant today, three years later. For those who see the fundamental value of data and learn to extract and use it well there will be huge benefits.

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But in a world where we’re running faster and faster every day you need to stop and ask yourself: does data make the decision, or do you use data to help you make better decisions? Your answer will change your organizations relationship with data. It will help you reflect on whether you are data-driven or data-informed.

We met Carl Raimond to see how he and his commercial team started an initiative called “Metrics that Matter”, an initiative with the goal to create a set of actionable and meaningful metrics to help guide business decisions and progress toward strategic goals. Carl’s focus was to implement a set of metrics that would add value rather than generating a sea of reports with no clear purpose.

““The first step is really to ask yourself what are the real metrics that drive your business, inform decision making and propel your strategy. The data that will give you fuel in taking action. It’s easy to get consumed with our everyday responsibilities, that we don’t take time to stop and reflect on what these metrics really are. But in today’s data driven and competitive world we can’t afford not to. ”

Carl Raimond, Chief Commercial Officer at Olink

Creating a data-driven culture

At Olink they had a small set of metrics measuring commercial success. Many of them were indicators looking at historical data. Carl put together a task force with Sales leaders, Sales Operations and Finance in order to align around the metrics that really mattered to their organization’s growth.

The process looked like this:

  • Align your metrics. Step one was really to align around the metrics. You can measure almost anything today, but just because you can measure it doesn’t mean that you should. You need to be honest and brutal in choosing the metrics that really matters in optimizing and growing your business. Each business has its nuances so you can’t go with “one size fits all”, you need to do the preparatory work within your team first.
  • Make the first cut. Step two is to list all of the metrics and decide which of them you can attain right now, which of them can be attained with some work and which of them you need to let go of. At least for now. Choose carefully and remember not to get paralyzed by all the data available. The important part is to start somewhere.
  • Make the information available. The third step is to decide how you will create the information needed. What are you going to do with the information and who are your key stakeholders?
  • Don’t drown people in data. Lastly, you need to talk about cadence. You can easily drown people with too much information, too often, which will lead to the opposite of a data-driven culture. Create a matrix for different stakeholders so that you know the basics: to who and when?
  • Use the right tool to visualize. You need to be able to make the data understandable to everybody. The value of data is not the information itself, but what you can do when you understand the trends, behaviors etc. There are great tools you can use for visualization. Use them well. At Olink the finance team had already adopted Qlik and the flexibility in the tool was great. So, with the help of Andréas Pettersson, Subject Matter Expert from the Via Summa team, they began creating the dashboards needed and Qlik became one of the primary tools for visualization of the metrics.
  • Plan for execution. Every goal and vision needs a plan for execution. Take the easiest tasks first and get going. This way you will show the team some quick wins. The long-term vision is great but look at what you can attain now and start making progress.

“We had great support from Via Summa and Andreas, he is fantastic! We articulated all the metrics that we wanted, and he came back with all the things that we could measure and visualize in Qlik. In today’s world, it’s crucial to leverage data. It’s not a matter of wanting to use data. It’s necessity.”

Carl Raimond, Chief Commercial Officer at Olink

Carl’s 3 best tips for data-driven growth

  1. Agree on the data that really matters – don’t become overwhelmed by information. Data is big and it´s expected to grow in volume every day. The key to success is taking that first step and align around metrics that matter the most
  2. Execute immediately – don’t wait for the perfect system or information. Get going and optimize as you go. Don’t just push data around and don’t let perfect get in the way of good enough!
  3. Create a data-driven culture. Make data a natural part of your organizational culture
    and mindset. Make data accessible for everybody, provide training in the tools you use and help everybody to adapt to the data-driven culture.

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  4. Olink listed on Nasdaq

Olink listed on Nasdaq

Summa Equity is pleased to announce that on 24 March 2021, portfolio company Olink, the proteomics platform, successfully priced its initial public offering of 17,647,058 American depositary shares (ADS), each representing one ordinary share, at a price of $20.00 per ADS. ADSs in Olink began trading on 25 March on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol “OLK”. The offering closed on 29 March, after fulfilling customary closing conditions. The IPO raised $264.7 million in gross proceeds for Olink.

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Olink Proteomics provides a platform of products and services which are deployed across major biopharmaceutical companies and leading clinical and academic institutions to deepen the understanding of real-time human biology and drive 21st century healthcare through actionable and impactful science.

A registration statement relating to these securities was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The offering was made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the final prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained from: Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, telephone: 1-866-471-2526 or by emailing Prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com; Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10014; or SVB Leerink LLC, Attention: Syndicate Department, One Federal Street, 37th Floor, Boston Massachusetts 02110, telephone: 800-808-7525, ext. 6218 or by email at syndicate@svbleerink.com.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor will there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful before registration or qualification under the securities laws of that state or jurisdiction.

Contact information

Hannah G. Jacobsen, Director and Head of IR, Summa Equity
Mob: +47 936 41 960
Email: hannah.jacobsen@summaequity.com

Stina Thorman, IR Manager, Olink
Mob: +46 707 18 7354
Email: stina.thorman@olink.com

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  4. EcoOnline lists on Euronext Growth Oslo

EcoOnline, a leading provider of Environmental, Health, Safety, and Quality (EHSQ) software, has today been admitted to trading on Euronext Growth Oslo.

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For more than 20 years, EcoOnline has developed innovative solutions helping businesses in all industries and sizes to create safer, more sustainable, and more efficient workplaces. Today EcoOnline has a leading position in all the Nordic countries and the UK and Ireland, offering its industry-agnostic solutions to more than 6,500 customers, representing 86 industries.

The listing on Euronext Growth Oslo is marking an exciting new step forward in our journey securing an even stronger platform for growth. We are pleased to see that leading institutional investors share our belief in the value of providing solutions for safer workplaces and a better environment. We would also like to thank all our passionate and purpose-driven employees, whose hard work and dedication have got us to this point. I am confident that EcoOnline is extremely well-positioned for future growth, said Göran Lindö, CEO of EcoOnline.

The offering was successfully completed with a total transaction size of NOK 1,84 billion, where the primary offering raised gross proceeds of NOK 500 million. EcoOnline is valued at NOK 4,1 billion on the day of listing.

Christian Melby, Partner and CIO in Summa Equity commented:

The Company combines the features of business-to-business technology with sustainability, creating safer workplaces and better environment. We became owners in 2017, we have seen the company grow and excel since then, and we are excited about the prospects of being part of its future as a listed company.

At the end of 2020, EcoOnline had more than 370 employees in seven countries. The company’s Pro-forma recognised revenue was NOK 334 million in 2020. It reported NOK 348 million in annualized recurring revenues at the end of January 2021, includes the acquisition of Engage EHS.

EcoOnline has made significant progress in the market and established itself as a leading and successful provider of EHSQ software and systems. We have identified a significant potential for further growth, which we seek to accelerate with additional funding, and we look forward to inviting new investors to join us on this journey, said Gunnar Evensen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of EcoOnline.

Strong tailwinds

The EHSQ market is an attractive industry with solid tailwinds, and EcoOnline has identified significant potential for further growth, supported by macro drivers, such as digitalization and increased focus on sustainability and ESG, but also new and emerging risks and regulatory requirements and production standards.

EcoOnline’s passion for creating innovative technology meets the growing demand for EHSQ software to include capabilities, such as Environmental, social and governance, sustainability risk management, and operational risk management as well as more stringent regulations and data management and analytical tools.

To help businesses effectively spot risk, corrective actions, and protect employees, contractors, customers, and the public, EcoOnline has developed an EHSQ software that allows the customers to drill down into the root cause of the incidents, risks, or emissions.

The listing will support EcoOnline’s strategy and growth plans, including increasing market share through strategic acquisitions. Further, as a listed company, this will strengthen its overall market awareness for both clients and industry partners and improve its ability to attract, retain and motivate talented personnel.

Pareto Securities, ABG Sundal Collier, and SpareBank1 Markets acted as leading financial advisors in the process.

About EcoOnline

EcoOnline is a leading provider of Environmental, Health, Safety, and Quality (EHSQ) software. In more than 20 years, EcoOnline has developed innovative solutions helping businesses in all industries and sizes to create safer, more sustainable, and more efficient workplaces. Today, EcoOnline holds leading positions in all the Nordic countries, the UK and Ireland, offering its industry-agnostic solutions to more than 6,500 customers, representing 86 industries.

Contact information

Hannah G. Jacobsen, Director and Head of IR, Summa Equity
Mob: +47 936 41 960
Email: hannah.jacobsen@summaequity.com

Göran Lindö, CEO EcoOnline Holding
Mob: +47 452 00 660
Email: goran.lindo@ecoonline.com

Morten Evensen, CFO EcoOnline Holding
Mob: +47 415 11 169
Email: morten.floberg.evensen@ecoonline.com

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  4. From vision to action – how Infobric is driving demand with sustainability

From vision to action – how Infobric is driving demand with sustainability

Creating real change requires businesses and leaders to think and act differently. It requires a different mindset as well as different business models. In order to be at the forefront of change, you need to see the business value that sustainability can create – you need to see that sustainability IS BUSINESS in today’s world.

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5 min read

We met Marie and David at Infobric to see how they created a concrete business plan using sustainability as the driver. They have succeeded in concretizing the concept of sustainability and going from high-level words to action. Infobric’s business goal is to be the global market leader and SaaS provider within socially sustainable and resource-effective workplaces. In fulfilling their brand promise – “A world of Ease” they use sustainability as the key driver to unite the internal team as well as serving a need for the customer.

Creating awareness within the industry

The problems with crime in the construction industry have been known for a long time and even intensified in recent years. The construction industry is also strongly regulated in terms of the working environment as well as the climate impact. It is an industry that is severely vulnerable, and digitalization and sustainability is no longer just “nice to have”, it’s a necessity. It’s a matter of driving change towards safe, sustainable and resource-effective workplaces. And this was Infobric’s mission when starting an internal project to develop an action plan for creating a stronger competitive advantage from their sustainability position.

“We wanted to go from the high-level words to a concrete action plan. We wanted to turn our vision and mission into a powerful movement in our organization. This will help us internally in becoming one brand as well as creating awareness and demand in the market”

Marie Skeppstedt, Communications Manager at Infobric

Going from words to action

The construction industry is not at the forefront of digitalization. They have nearly started the journey but would benefit greatly from digitizing the processes and using actual data to tackle the challenges.

“We know that the construction industry has a long way to go when it comes to digitalization and sustainability. We know the stakeholder’s pains and gains and we wanted to turn this knowledge into actual sales opportunities. This was the starting point of our project”

David Skyborn, Chief Revenue Officer at Infobric

In order to move from words to action and make sustainability a tangible value driver, Infobric put together a task force with the mission to map stakeholders, look at the Global Goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and get started with creating a solid action plan. The process looked like this:

  1. Deciding on the Why. What do we want to achieve with this project? What is the purpose of creating an action plan?
  2. Forming the task force. Gather a mixed group internally including sales, marketing and communication, product development as well as people from our newly acquired companies.
  3. Ask for guidance. Infobric had great support from Anna Ryott, Principal Via Summa. She challenged them in thinking outside the box and helped the team becoming more precise with the plan.
  4. Brainstorm and workshop. A number of workshops took place in order to get clarity on what they could and could not influence in the industry, the pains and gains of the customers, their main challenges as well as opportunities, the industry’s challenges and so on.
  5. The UN 2030 Agenda. The next step was to identify the UN goals they actually could contribute to. You could argue that they can contribute to all of them, but by daring to choose they could turn the high-level goals into tangible pains for their customers. These pains made it easy for Infobric to package their message around three values: security, compliance and resource efficiency.
  6. Know your audience. Finally, the task force looked at different stakeholders in the process. Who would be involved in the buying decision and what are their specific challenges? The outcome was a concrete plan for stakeholder engagement.

The next step is to use this action plan and create content on the website, package new messaging and services as well as creating pitch cards for the sales team to use.

Marie and David’s 3 best tips for creating business from sustainability

  1. Put great emphasis on your target group analysis – you need to truly understand the customer. Make sure you know who really owns the sustainability issues. Map the Buying committee and see who influences who.
  2. Know the regulations, existing as well as coming – study and analyze proposals for future legal requirements and regulations. This will help you to create a pitch that will stick.
  3. Co-create with partners. Try to identify potential partners that you can co-create with. Look at leaders and influencers in the industry and map other organizations that work with the same agenda.
  4. Dare to just do it! Every change starts with the courage to take action. Start by testing your idea internally and expand from that.

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  4. IWMAC and Egain merge to drive sustainability in building energy management

IWMAC and Egain merge to drive sustainability in building energy management

Property management specialists IWMAC and Egain have announced they are joining forces, bringing together two of the leading building connectivity platforms in Europe. The two companies have a shared vision of fighting climate change through enabling better monitoring, control and optimisation of energy use of buildings, across the retail, industrial, commercial and residential sectors. A new brand name will be announced in the near future.

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Buildings account for 40% of Europe’s carbon emissions – mainly arising from heating and cooling – and 75% of all buildings are energy inefficient. With forecasts indicating that as much as 95% of today’s building mass will still be in use in 50 years’ time, optimising the energy consumption of this sector will play a key role in achieving the EU’s target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030. For IWMAC and Egain this challenge represents an enormous opportunity.

With proven solutions already implemented at 9,000 facilities across Europe, we are well-positioned to expand our customer base across Europe. As property owners are facing increasingly ambitious sustainability targets, intelligent digitalization of both new and old buildings on a unified and flexible platform is a very attractive way of reducing energy and resource waste, explains Trond-Øystein Bjørnnes, formerly CEO of IWMAC, who has been appointed as the CEO of the new company.

The new company will combine the capabilities of IWMAC and Egain to offer a market-leading range of property management tools, utilising the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence, big data and human expertise. Through advanced data capture, they provide a comprehensive picture of building operations, enabling better, more sustainable decision-making.

Around 6,000 commercial, residential and public buildings as well as 3,000 grocery stores in Northern Europe are already daily users of either IWMAC or Egain solutions for energy control and efficiency, with particularly strong presence in Norway and Sweden. In 2020 the combined turnover of IWMAC and Egain exceeded € 16 million, and the new company will initially have offices in seven countries with a total of 120 employees. Following the merger, it will pursue further acquisitions within the European proptech space, to continue to grow market share.

Merging IWMAC and Egain creates a fantastic opportunity to grow further, enabling more organisations to improve their profitability, while reducing emissions and waste at the same time, says Kent Zehetner, Partner at Pivot Invest, who will be board chair of the new company.

Summa Equity, the Nordic private equity firm, which invests in companies that are solving global challenges and creating positive Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) outcomes, acquired Egain in 2016 and will remain a significant shareholder.

Egain and IMWAC are both at the forefront of using innovative technology to transform building sustainability, and they complement each other perfectly in a way that brings huge advantages for customers. We look forward to working together as the new company plays an even greater role in building a sustainable economy going forwardscommented Gisle Glück Evensen, partner at Summa Equity.

About IWMAC

IWMAC is a SCADA software developing company and data integration specialist for all technical systems in buildings. Since the start IWMAC has supported companies to reduce their energy consumption and product losses and smart solutions for web-based monitoring gives the customers a complete overview and control. IWMAC was founded in 2001 in Trondheim, Norway. Today the IWMAC solutions connects to, monitors and controls technical installations in 4,000 buildings, including specialist solutions for grocery stores. IWMAC is the only provider with a 24/7/365 manned Alarm Center.

www.iwmac.com

For further information, please contact:

Hannah G. Jacobsen, Director and Head of IR, Summa Equity

Gisle Glück Evensen, Partner, Summa Equity

Kent Zehetner, Chair of Board (+47 918 13 762 / kent@pivotinvest.com)

Trond-Øystein Bjørnnes, CEO (+47 982 03 840 / trond.oystein.bjornnes@iwmac.no)

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  4. ULTCO becomes part of Milarex

ULTCO becomes part of Milarex

ULTCO becomes part of Milarex, acquiring foothold and strengthening growth prospects in the attractive North American market.

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4 min read

Milarex, a leading international company for marketing and processing of value added salmon products, has acquired ULTCO, the companies announced Monday March 15th. The San Diego, California-based specialty seafood company, which specializes in high-quality, responsibly sourced, and traceable products, has nationwide sales in the United States and Canada.

ULTCO and Milarex are complementary companies, and by coming together I am convinced we can improve our total service to the market and better fulfill the strong demand in the North American market. Its founders have done an excellent job establishing and growing ULTCO to the company it is today, and we are delighted to welcome them together with their outstanding core staff to our international seafood team, said Thomas Farstad, CEO of Milarex.

The market for salmon in the US is fast growing, with specific emphasis on convenient, value-added, and sustainable products. As business partners for several years, ULTCO and Milarex gradually expanded the scope of their partnership, with new product launches at several important retail and food service chains.

ULTCO provides an appealing opportunity to continue the remarkable growth story Milarex has experienced since its start in 2016. The prospects for safe, convenient, and quality products in North America are attractive and we expect to realize significant further growth in the years ahead. Through this transaction, we are transforming Milarex from a European player into a global company, while increasing net sales of the combination to EUR 300 million, said Farstad.

Under Milarex ownership, ULTCO will continue to grow and market innovative new products as an importer and distributor of seafood to North America. Milarex will sell its products through ULTCO, and ULTCO will continue working with its existing partners to complement the product range. The companies expect the acquisition to strengthen product development and reduce time to market while continuing to offer superior customer service. The ULTCO co-founders will remain at the helm under Milarex ownership.

Milarex’s disruptive processing technologies and product innovation capabilities have enabled ULTCO to expand our offerings in recent years. When coupled with our shared values around sustainability, transparency and strong farming partnerships, our companies are uniquely aligned to bring value to our customers, ULTCO co-founder Mike Fairman said.

ULTCO and Milarex have been business partners for several years. The transaction closed with both parties agreeing not to disclose the terms of the deal.

About ULTCO

ULTCO is a specialty seafood company that develops, imports, and distributes a full range of sustainably produced seafood products. Working across the fresh, frozen, value-added, and ready to eat categories, ULTCO connects customers with superior products from producer partners that share its commitment to unrivaled quality, a sustainable value chain and responsible fishing and farming practices.

About Milarex

Milarex is a fast-growing international seafood company delivering a large variety of safe and sustainable salmon products. The local approach and close connection to the markets is a cornerstone in the business model. The company is a frontrunner in developing novel business concepts with the aim of improving the overall ESG profile of salmon products. The product range includes smoked, fresh, and frozen salmon products in a wide range of convenient formats. Founded in 2016, Milarex has posted profitable numbers since the outset, experienced fast growth, and become one of the global leaders in the marketing and processing of value-added salmon products. With sales offices in Germany, Italy, France, UK, Poland, and USA, and with high yield and low-cost production facilities in Slupsk, Poland, Milarex has grown to EUR 300 million in net sales. Milarex is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, and is owned by Summa Equity, a sustainability oriented Scandinavian Private Equity Fund.

For further comments, please contact:

Hannah G. Jacobsen, Director and Head of IR
Thomas Farstad, CEO of Milarex, +47 99 150 150

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  4. Summa Equity is a double winner at Private Equity Exchange Awards 2020

Summa Equity is a double winner at Private Equity Exchange Awards 2020

Summa Equity has been honoured by the Private Equity Exchange Awards for the second year in a row, winning both Best ESG Private Equity Initiatives and Best Nordic LBO Fund.

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2 min read

The awards, part of the Private Equity Exchange conference, are among the most prestigious in the calendar, with winners decided by more than 80 high-profile experts including limited partners from across the world.

In the ESG category, judges recognised Summa as the first private equity firm to commit to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while also commenting on the firm’s integration of ESG at all stages of the investment process.

In the Best Nordic LBO Fund category, judges were impressed by the speed at which Summa raised its first two funds, in 2017 and 2019, and by the success of its first exit in 2020.

Reynir Indahl, Managing Partner of Summa Equity, commented:

“Both ESG and Nordics investing are going from strength to strength, so to be recognised for our approach in these areas is truly humbling. Our success so far has shown that there doesn’t need to be a trade-off between creating impact and financial performance, and we are more motivated than ever to show that managing externalities is the best way to build long-term value.”

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Latest readings

News

Investing in food and agriculture for health and planetary resilience

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NetGuardians and Intix unite to form Vyntra

Read more

Planetary boundaries as a guiding framework for sustainable growth

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