Eleda

Private Equity Manager (GP)

Case study

About the company

Eleda is a group of Nordic businesses that provide infrastructure development and services. The network of companies operates independently within several segments, addressing the need for green transition, including water and sewerage, power distribution, district heating, roads, data centres, railways and electric vehicle charging stations.

Business description

• Eleda’s decentralised operating model allows its companies to deliver the highest quality services to their customers with the optimal mix of local presence and the resources of a larger organisation.
• The company’s headquarters are in Stockholm, Sweden. It has more than 3,100 employees and a turnover exceeding SEK 16bn (equivalent to US$ 1.5bn).

Investment rationale

• The company is well placed to take advantage of key developing sustainability trends like electrification, renewable energy and water preservation.
• The private equity manager has specialist experience in the sustainability sector and a proven investment track record in the Nordic mid-market space.

Private equity manager profile

• • Altor Equity Partners (“Altor”) has raised more than EUR 11bn in total commitments since inception and has invested in nearly 100 companies.
  • The investments have been made in medium-sized Nordic and DACH¹ companies with the aim of creating value through growth initiatives and operational improvements.
  • Among current and past investments are Trioworld, OX2, FLSmidth , H2 Green Steel and Piab.

¹DACH comprises three countries: Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Our relationship

Pantheon has a long-established relationship with Altor Equity Partners. Pantheon was one of the founding limited partners in Altor in 2003, and has continued to support the franchise, investing in Altor’s five successor funds and in ACT I, its climate transition fund.

Active management and value creation

Altor created Eleda in April 2020 through the merger of three well-positioned infrastructure services platforms. At the time of the merger, the company had a turnover of approximately SEK 6bn. Today, Eleda has over SEK 15bn of revenues, driven by strong organic growth of more than 10% per annum, and through 19 acquisitions.

Exit

Eleda was acquired by Bain Capital, a global private markets investment firm, in December 2023. PIP made a return of 5.1x on the original cost and an IRR of 60%.