DC Advisory and Danske Bank advised Perusa Partner Fund 2, LP (“Perusa”), a mid-cap private equity fund focused on the German speaking region and the Nordics, on the sale of its portfolio company SEM AB (“SEM” or “the Company”) to funds advised by Procuritas Partners AB (“Procuritas”), a Stockholm-based private equity firm specialized in investments in the Nordic mid-market segment.
SEM was founded in 1915 and is one of the world’s leading producers of electronic ignition and control systems for combustion engines, including heavy- and medium-duty vehicle engines, natural gas engines and small engines for handheld equipment. SEM serves its blue chip customer base from two state-of-the-art production facilities in Sweden and China with a total staff of c. 220.
Building on this long-standing engineering expertise, Perusa has strengthened SEM’s operational capabilities upon acquisition in 2012 in a challenging market environment and implemented sustainable production processes, cost structures that are considered best in class within the industry and strengthened the Company’s technological portfolio. With its established technological and operational capabilities, SEM is well placed to benefit from stricter environmental and fuel economy requirements in the future and could already develop, during Perusa’s ownership, the Chinese facility from a pure production plant to a full-fledged company. As a consequence, the Company was able to increase its revenues by 30% to c. €35 million while doubling its profits to c. €8 million during the last three years.
DC Advisory and Danske Bank were mandated by Perusa to explore strategic options for SEM. Having coordinated a competitive sales process, DC Advisory and Danske Bank managed to secure strong interest from both industrial corporations and private equity investors.
