Investment AB Latour has today acquired 14,461,809 shares in Alimak Group for SEK 134 per share, corresponding to a total of SEK 1,938 m. Sellers are Apolus Holding AB whose principal owner is Triton Fund II. The acquired shares corresponds to 26.7 per cent of the votes and equity in Alimak Group. Alimak Group has a world-leading position within vertical access solutions for industry and the construction sector, with customers supported by key mega trends such as urbanization and environmental friendly energy production.

Clarification before reporting of changes in shareholding to Swedish authorities (“Finansinspektionen”)
In order to prevent possible misunderstandings due to the forthcoming reporting of changes in shareholding to Finansinspektionen, Latour want to clarify that the reporting will be made by Investment AB Latour’s principal owner, the Douglas family. The Douglas family already owns 112,526 shares in Alimak Group. The current regulations stipulate that reporting of changes in shareholdings to Finansinspektionen should then be done by the Douglas family and not by Latour, although Investment AB Latour will take the principal ownership in Alimak Group.

The total holding that the Douglas family will report to Finansinspektionen is as follows: The Douglas family 112,526 shares, Investment AB Latour 14,461,809 shares and Latour’s wholly-owned subsidiary Karpalunds Ångbryggeriaktiebolag 40,000 shares.

Göteborg, September 14, 2017

Investment AB Latour (publ)
Jan Svensson, CEO

For further information please contact:
Jan Svensson, CEO Investment AB Latour, +46 705 77 16 40

Investment AB Latour is a mixed investment company consisting primarily of wholly-owned industrial operations and an investment portfolio of listed holdings in which Latour is the principal owner or one of the principal owners. The investment portfolio consists of nine substantial holdings with a market value of about SEK 46 billion. The wholly-owned industrial operations generated a turnover of approximately SEK 8 billion in 2

Almi Invest invests SEK 1.5 million in Linköping company SweGaN. The company has developed a patented process to produce semiconductor materials, which can be very important in areas such as telecom, where it can produce significantly more energy-efficient base stations. In the issue of a total of 6 million is also participating private investors. The money will go to increase Swegans production.

SweGaN sells a material, known as epiwafers coated with gallium nitride, which customers use to develop their own components. The company has developed a unique process for providing superior performance, higher efficiency and lower energy consumption than current methods. This is of great interest in telecom and space industry, where the need for increased bandwidth and lower power consumption is large. Devices based on SweGaNs technologies can reduce energy consumption in a base station with 20 – 30 percent, while the capacity increases 10 to 100 times.

– SweGaNs technology with its superior performance is unique, says Pär Carlshamre, Investment Manager at Almi Invest. It provides a disruptivt materials that can create components that no one has thought about before.

SweGaNs technology can be used in telecommunications, defense and aerospace industries. The company has already paying customers from research and development labs of component manufacturers and universities. SweGaNs strategy is now developing its offering from simply selling their material to even design their own new components.

– This investment enables us to take the next step and purchase your own reactor, which is needed to produce our material, says SweGaNs founder and CEO Olof Kordina. That way we can scale up our business and meet a real need in the market.

Norvestor invests in Wexus Norvestor VII,L.P.(“Norvestor”), a fund managed by Norvestor Equity AS, has signed an agreement to invest in Wexus Gruppen AS (“Wexus”or “The Company”) Wexus is a rapidly growing specialist within semi-permanent modular buildings for the public, industrial and infrastructure market.

They offer highly cost efficient products and services for its markets, using high quality and low cost manufacturing from their fully owned production facility in Tallinn, Estonia. Modules are either sold or provided on longer-term rental agreements. Wexus has the ability to undertake the full scope from tendering to commissioning. The Company has experienced strong growth since its inception through the positive market development and taking significant market share.“ We have significant experience from the modular building market and believe we have the right combination of integrated production and project execution capabilities. The Wexus team has done a solid job of positioning us as one of the preferred providers to the public, infrastructure and industrial markets. These markets all have a sound underlying growth for the foreseeable future. We believe we are unique in our diversification in terms of geographies, module types and segments, which makes our business robust and flexible. Together with Norvestor we will seek to grow within our core markets and look for new growth opportunities. To enable continued high growth, we acknowledge the need for support and are therefore very pleased to have Norvestor on board as a partner”, says Egil Messmer, CEO of Wexus.“We are very pleased with the agreement to partner with Wexus. Their unique position and highly experienced team, along with a very cost effective and scalable structure, makes the Company an ideal platform for Norvestor in the modular facility market.

Wexus has proven an impressive ability to understand the needs of the market and deliver upon this. With the facility in Tallinn and their many long-term partners, they also have good control of the complete value chain of its products and services, making Wexus a highly reliable partner for their end clients.”, says Following the acquisition, Norvestor will become the largest shareholder in Wexus with approximately 60% of the shares; the management will hold the remaining shares. Wexus had consolidated pro-forma revenues of NOK 55 million in 2015 and NOK 70 million in 2016 and is expected to grow by more than 100% during 2017.  Wexus employs 79 people and is headquartered in Stavanger, orway

Wexus is a leading specialised manufacturer and provider of modular buildings to governmental institutions, municipalities and customers within the oil & gas, infrastructure, utilities, and shipbuilding segments. The buildings are provided either on a rental contract or through sale of permanent installations. The Company has a lean and cost efficient set -up in combination with focus on high-quality modules, which makes them perceived as one of the best “value -for-money” providers in the industry. Wexus has built a wide range of customers from all its major segments. Production is done from their fully owned facility in Tallinn. The Wexus team of 79 is based at the headquarters in Stavanger (Norway) and in the production facility in Tallinn (Estonia).

Read more at www.wexus.no

Norvestor Equity AS is a leading private equity company focusing on the lower mid-market in the Nordic region. The team has worked together since 1991 making it one of the most experienced private equity teams in Norway, having executed 65 investments with 260 follow-on M&A transactions, in addition to executing 43 exits including 14 IPOs. Norvestor focuses on investment opportunities in growth companies, making platform investments principally in Norway and Sweden, with potential to achieve a leading Nordic or international position either through organic growth, through acquisitions or by expanding into new countries. Funds advised by Norvestor are currently invested in the following portfolio companies; Life Europe, Johnson Metall, Sentech (formerly Advantec Sensing), Apsis, Aptilo, Cegal, Marine Aluminium, Crayon, Robust, iSurvey, Future Production, Nomor, PG Flow Solutions, Roadworks, Permascand, 4Service, HydraWell, Eneas, Presserv, Nordic Camping & Resort, READ Cased Hole, IT Gården and NetNordic.

Ardian takes majority stake in CNC technology company imes-icore

Eiterfeld/Frankfurt, August 2nd 2017 – Ardian, the independent private investment company, today announces the acquisition of a majority stake in imes-icore GmbH (imes-icore), a specialist manufacturer of computer numerical control (CNC) and computer aided design/manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems predominantly focusing on the medical industry, and headquartered in Eiterfeld, Germany.

Ardian will acquire the stake from current majority shareholder, Hugo Isert, as part of a succession planning programme. Current CEO, Christoph Stark, will retain a significant minority stake, and will continue to manage the business. In the course of this transaction, members of the management team will also become shareholders in the company.

imes-icore was founded in 2002 by Hugo Isert and Christoph Stark, and develops, produces and sells specialist CNC-CAD/CAM systems for milling, water jet and laser cutting, and 3D printing. The company has close to 150 employees and in 2016 generated sales of approximately EUR 30 million.

imes-icore’s main competency lies in machine systems for the automated production of dentures such as dental caps and bridges, implant superstructures or prostheses. The company’s products are used in dental laboratories, clinics and dental milling centres. imes-icore also offers specialized industrial production solutions for numerous industries such as e.g. jewellery, orthopaedic and automotive sectors as well as for model/mould construction. Sales to customers in more than 100 countries are handled primarily through distribution partners.

With the support of Ardian, imes-icore plans to increase its range of services and key account management as well as expanding internationally, both organically and through targeted acquisitions.

Christoph Stark, CEO and co-founder of imes-icore, said: “The partnership with Ardian is an important milestone in the development of imes-icore. Ardian’s extensive industrial experience, financial strength and global platform will support us in realising our potential for national and international growth. Our well-established brand, unique product and service portfolio, and clear focus on innovation is valued by customers worldwide. We intend to grow our strong market position in our core segment by further building on our dental laboratories business as well as expanding our activities in the segments of practice laboratories and automated systems for milling centres. We will continue to develop these specific market segments going forward, on both the product development and sales sides.”

Marc Abadir, Managing Director of Ardian Expansion, said: “imes-icore is acknowledged throughout the industry as a leading provider of innovative technology solutions for the dental sector. It has significant potential for growth in a fragmented market environment, led by a highly capable CEO, Christoph Stark. We look forward to supporting the company and management team in realising the firm’s potential for growth.”

This is the fifth investment of Ardian Expansion Fund IV which closed at €1 billion in 2016. The fund invests in high-growth companies with a value of up to EUR 225 million in France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Spain.

The transaction remains subject to approval from the competition authorities, and financial details have not been disclosed.

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian, founded in 1996 and led by Dominique Senequier, is an independent private investment company with assets of US$62 billion managed or advised in Europe, North America and Asia. The company, which is majority-owned by its employees, keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and delivers investment performance to its global investors while fuelling growth in economies across the world. Ardian’s investment process embodies three values: excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship.

Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 460 employees working through twelve offices in Beijing, Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Singapore and Zurich. The company offers its 580 investors a diversified choice of funds covering the full range of asset classes, including Ardian Funds of Funds (primary, early secondary and secondary), Ardian Private Debt, Ardian North America Direct Buyout, Direct Funds (Ardian Mid Cap Buyout, Ardian Expansion, Ardian Growth, Ardian Co-Investment), Ardian Infrastructure, Ardian Real Estate and customized mandate solutions with Ardian Mandates.

www.ardian.com

ABOUT IMES-ICORE

Imes-icore was established in 2002 as a spin-off from the isel Group, which has been in business since 1972. The company currently has around 150 employees at its Eiterfeld site. It develops, produces and sells specialist CNC-CAD/CAM systems for milling, water jet and laser cutting as well as 3D-printing. The firm’s products are used in dental laboratories, clinics and dental milling centres. imes-icore also offers specialized industrial production solutions for numerous industries such as e.g. jewellery, orthopaedic and automotive sectors as well as for model/mould construction. Sales to customers in more than 100 countries are handled primarily through distribution partners. imes-icore generated sales of around EUR 30 million in 2016.

www.imes-icore.de

COMPANIES AND INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN THE TRANSACTION

Ardian Team: Marc Abadir, Dirk Wittneben, Yannic Metzger, Max Dolata
Financial: Deloitte (Egon Sachsalber)
Commercial: L.E.K. (Tobias Kösters, Nicole Damani)
Legal Corporate: Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (Dr. Christoph Brenner, Dr. Fabian von Samson)
Legal Finance: Willkie, Farr & Gallagher (Jan Wilms)
Tax: Taxess (Gerald Thomas, Richard Schäfer)
Insurance: Aon (Dr. Christoph von Lehmann)
M&A Advisory: Raymond James (Dirk-Oliver Löffler)
Debt Advisory: DC Advisory (Daniel Gebler)
M&A Advisory (sell-side): UniCredit (Michael Bälz, Garbor Grailach)
Legal (sell-side): McDermott, Will & Emery (Dr. Clemens Just, Norman Wasse)

IK Investment Partners to enter into negotiations for the acquisition of Bretèche Industrie