SWEDEN: Private equity company Ratos has signed an agreement to sell its 100% stake in rolling stock maintenance business EuroMaint Rail to SSVP, a mid-market private equity fund advised by Orlando Management which invests in companies that it believes are underperforming but have ‘a healthy core’. The SKr650m deal announced on October 25 is expected to close by the end of this year.
EuroMaint was created as a business unit within state railway group SJ in 2001, and was acquired by Ratos in 2007. It now has about 1 050 employees and annual sales of SKr1·6bn. Ratos said its investment had generated a negative annual average return, and that the divestment was not expected to generate any exit results.
‘EuroMaint's ability to deliver high-quality services has strengthened the company's position in the market for train maintenance’, said Lars Johansson, Acting CEO of Ratos. ‘Ratos has owned Euromaint since 2007, and we believe that now is a good time for a new owner to take over’.
In December 2015 EuroMaint had signed a deal to sell its German activities to Iberia Industry Capital Group, which acquires marginal and loss-making businesses with a view to improving their performance.
