SEB Private Equity, which invests on behalf of financial institutions, recently closed its second fund of SEK 3.4bn. The fund’s focus is on investments in attractive small and mid-sized companies in the Nordic countries. In addition to conducting active sustainability work in the companies in which it has ownership, SEB Private Equity has special focus on investing in companies with sustainable business models.
Both Renall and Sesol are examples of such companies that are currently on a strong growth journey. Through their partnerships with SEB Private Equity, the companies gain the strong capital backing of an owner-partner with a long history and experience of actively contributing to value-creating growth in Nordic companies, with specific focus on sustainable business models. Examples of companies that SEB Private Equity has invested in during the past year include Axkid, Matsmart, Eatery and Loviseberg Råsaft.
Renall
Renall is a leading and rapidly growing regional actor in environment-friendly waste management and recycling services, with sales of approximately SEK 240m in 2021.
“We are deeply impressed by Renall’s growth and sustainability journey during the past decade,” says Gustav Ecorcheville, Investment Director at SEB Private Equity. “Our ambition is to work together with the company’s founders and employees to continue growing as the most attractive employer in the industry with a business model that contributes to greater recycling and a circular economy.”
Ronny Fyhr, CEO and co-founder of Renall, comments: “We look very favourably on gaining a new part-owner with financial strength that can also add expertise in many areas in the company in a time when we are moving ever-faster toward a circular economy, where waste is turned into future raw material for industries.”
Sesol
Since its start in 2019, Sesol has strived to be the leading Swedish provider of solar panel systems, e-vehicle chargers and batteries. The company had sales of approximately SEK 325m in 2021 and now has its sights on reaching more than a billion kronor in sales in 2022.
“We are very happy to enter this partnership with Sesol,” says Magnus Ramström, Investment Director at SEB Private Equity. “We see that the transition to renewable energy and a more sustainable society will drive considerable growth going forward, but we also believe that the company’s rapid growth will lead to new business opportunities. We are very impressed by Sesol’s journey thus far – both its rapid growth as well as its success in building up its organisation and processes, and our ambition is to help the company’s management continue to grow and take the company to new heights.”
“During our relatively short history, we at Sesol have had extreme growth, and yet we are only at the beginning of a very ambitious growth journey in the coming years,” comments Victor Salomonsson, CEO and co-founder of Sesol. “Through this deal Sesol gains access to valuable expertise and a long record of experience in developing fast-growing companies and access to SEB’s industrial network.”
The transactions entail that SEB Private Equity is acquiring a majority stake in Renall and a minority stake in Sesol. In both companies, the founders will stay on in central leadership positions. SEB Private Equity will serve as an active owner via the companies’ respective boards and plans in both cases to add additional expertise to the board and thereby help the companies along their journeys. At Renall, a new chairman has already been installed, David Schelin. David has a long and relevant record of experience, most recently as a board member for numerous companies in renewable energy and sustainability, and earlier as CEO of the companies EuroMaint Rail and Ragn-Sells.