Fenniarail Oy is a private freight transport company which operates on the Finnish railway network. It has seven line locomotives and 22 leased wagons, as well as wagons owned by its customers. Fenniarail's capacity is fully utilized, and to meet its robust client demand, the company has ordered two new Vectron electric locomotives from Siemens Mobility GmbH. The Vectron's energy efficiency and operating flexibility is top-notch: the locomotive regenerates electricity during braking, it has "last mile" diesel units for use during, for example, wagon transfers on non-electrified loading tracks, and its radio remote-control system enables independent shunting without a separate shunting locomotive. Nordhaven advised Fenniarail on the locomotives' senior debt financing.
"The Vectron locomotive's performance, energy efficiency, and zero emissions during electric use are important factors to our industrial clients, who are seeking emissions reductions in their logistics. With the new electric locomotives we will be able to diversify the Finnish railway market with a competitive and environmentally friendly alternative. Nordhaven supported us on debt financing and we are very satisfied on their performance," says Lauri Helke, Managing Director of Fenniarail.
For further information:
Martti Purhonen, martti.purhonen@nordhaven.com, +358 45 616 1551
Ari Leppänen, ari.leppanen@nordhaven.com, +358 40 525 9241
Ville Kangas, ville.kangas@nordhaven.com, +358 40 825 0717
Ville Vaskonen, ville.vaskonen@nordhaven.com, +358 50 356 9390
Nordhaven advised Pamark and its owners on the sale of the company to UK listed Bunzl Plc, the largest value-added distributor in the world within its market sectors. Finland represents the 33rd country in which Bunzl operates. In 2022 Nordhaven had advised Pamark and its owners on the sale of the company to OptiGroup. However, the transaction was unexpectedly blocked by the Finnish Consumer and Competition Authority in August 2023. Nordhaven continued in its advisory role and the transaction with Bunzl was signed in January 2024, and closed on the 29th of February, 2024.
Pamark adds value to its customers by providing a wide range of consumables, devices, and related services that are essential for its customers to run their businesses successfully. The company works for customers within various resilient and growing segments, such as healthcare, cleaning & hygiene, and HoReCa. Pamark's customers are from both the public and private sectors. Through its sourcing, Pamark can create a large, positive impact on its customers’ operations by offering competitive prices and advising on the transition towards using more sustainable consumables. Pamark was created through a merger between MedKit and Pamark in 2021, and it has sales of close to €60 million.
Bunzl is a UK-based international company with a focused compounder strategy. During the last 20 years Bunzl has acquired over 200 companies around the world. Bunzl has a topline of approximately £12 billion, close to £1 billion in adjusted operating profit, and around 24,500 employees. Bunzl ‘s shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and it has a market capitalisation of about £10 billion.
"When we were choosing a financial advisor to help us find the right partner to continue our company's growth story, the most important things were that there must be a match in personal chemistries, including trust and sense of humour, and that we share the same strategic view regarding the sales process. The characteristics of the Nordhaven team matched perfectly with us, and our decision to choose Nordhaven as our financial advisor turned out to be the right one. Without the skills and long-term commitment of Nordhaven's team the final result of this sale process would not have been as successful!" says Minna Åman-Toivio, CEO and majority owner of Pamark.
"We are happy for the owners of Pamark for reaching an outstanding end result, both financially and business-wise. It is great to work with companies that have strong business models and management teams. We consider that the markets for essential business solutions are still fairly fragmented and further consolidation will take place," says Timo Lappalainen, responsible partner for the project.
Nordhaven advised Touhula and its owners on the sale of the company to Sweden-based AcadeMedia. AcadeMedia is Northern Europe's largest education company, serving around 200,000 children, pupils, and adult students in various countries. The company operates around 800 units and has over 20,000 employees. Following the transaction, AcadeMedia's pre-school division will have operations in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, and the Netherlands. AcadeMedia's shares are listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.
Touhula is the pioneering chain-format private operator in education and childcare in Finland. The turnover of the company is approx. €100 million and Touhula has high social impact as it runs high-quality early education and care operations through 113 daycare centers across 40 municipalities. Touhula's 2,000 professionals provide early education and childcare services on a daily basis for around 8,000 children. Prior to the transaction Touhula has been owned by its board members, management, and employees such as heads of units, and in total the company has over 100 shareholders.
"I am truly happy with the transaction with international AcadeMedia and how Nordhaven planned the overall sell-side process to fit our needs - and executed it with high professionalism. We were able to check the interest in Touhula from different types of potential partners in an intelligent manner, which enabled us to make the best decision. With Nordhaven's valuable help we were able to find the best home for us - and to come to attractive deal terms." says Sari Saari, CEO of Touhula.
"Getting Touhula to its current strong standing was a long journey. At this point, we wanted the company to have a solid long-term owner who through its expertise brings benefits to Touhula's employees, customers, and other stakeholders, and who has broad shoulders to continue developing Touhula further. Nordhaven tailored a sales process for us that was broad but still light, and where a strong atmosphere of trust was created with the counterparty, which in turn enabled the parties to find good, practical solutions to all deal issues. Nordhaven consistently worked in a professional and committed manner, and working with them was also really enjoyable." says Harri-Pekka Kaukonen, Chairman of the Board at Touhula.
The transaction was completed on 1 March 2024.
Another quarter with strong deal activity in the Nordic software space.
Nordhaven has identified 30 software deals in the Nordic region in Q4 2023, +25% compared with the deal activity in Q4 2022. Q4 2023 show robustness in deal activity with an increase of +11% compared with Q3 2023. Measured in numbers of deals, Sweden was the market with most activity, followed by Norway and Denmark respectively.
Q3 deal volume remains resilient, continued increasing deal activity by international buyers.
Nordhaven has identified 27 software deals in the Nordic region in Q3 2023, in line with Q3 2022 deal activity. Albeit a slight decline from Q2 2023, deal volumes show robustness. Measured in numbers of deals, Norway was the most active country followed by Sweden and Denmark, respectively.
When your company is going through major changes there are important decisions to make – and we’re here to help you.
Our services cover all phases of your business cycle and business development.
When you have complex strategic decisions to make – we have the insight and expertise to provide invaluable advice.