Altor to divest Piab to EQT

Altor Fund II (Altor) has signed an agreement to divest Piab to EQT Fund VII (EQT). Altor acquired Piab together with Peter and Jacob Tell from several other members of the Tell family nearly ten years ago. Peter and Jacob Tell will remain as owners together with EQT after the transaction.

Piab has been a successful company within automation and material handling for decades, which has been based on a Swedish break-through invention. Peter Tell invented the high technology vacuum ejector in 1971. The vacuum ejector is used together with Piab’s suction cups and conveyors across the world to move material in automation applications in a wide variety of industries. Peter’s inventions have created a growing global niche within automation and are essential in robotics and machinery for food, pharmaceuticals, automobiles and many other products. Piab is today the clear technology leader within vacuum automation.

− Piab has greatly benefited from being owned by Altor. We have had an amazing development together, says Peter Tell, founder of Piab and Member of the Board. It is a great joy to see the company you have founded advance to a new level and both Altor and I are convinced that Piab will continue to grow for many years to come. I am pleased to see EQT taking over the baton and look forward to an exciting journey.

Altor acquired the company in 2006 and since then Piab has almost doubled its turnover and more than quadrupled its operating earnings. The transformation has been accomplished in close cooperation between Altor and the founders. The company has moved from a federation of entrepreneur-led businesses to a global group. A world-class IT-enabled supply chain has been built, a broad and wide modularized product assortment with several new strong innovations has been developed and a coordinated global sales strategy has been implemented. Piab is today a global company ready for a next step.

− It has been a privilege to earn the trust from Peter and Jacob to help develop Piab for almost ten years. I have greatly appreciated the cooperation with them and the truly excellent management team that we have built, says Bengt Maunsbach, Member of the Board of Piab and Partner at Altor Equity Partners, investment advisor to Altor. We have received strong interest in Piab from leading companies from Europe, US and Asia. I am glad to see EQT as the next majority owner of Piab and believe they will be able to take the company to yet another level.

− I have enjoyed working with Altor and the founders, accelerating Piab’s organic growth since I joined in 2013, says Anders Lindqvist, CEO of Piab. After 10 years of successful development with Altor it is now inevitable for them to divest and at the same time Piab is again ready for a new phase. I believe that EQT is ideally positioned to support us with that and look forward to many years of fruitful cooperation.

− Having followed Piab over the past years, we are impressed by the Company’s ability to continuously innovate and develop new high quality products, in addition to the well-managed operational model developed during Altor’s ownership. We believe Piab is well positioned to further accelerate growth and are very excited to partner with the management team and Tell family to further develop the Company, says Harry Klagsbrun, Partner at EQT Partners, investment advisor to EQT VII.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory requirements and approvals. Altor has been advised by Citigroup Global Markets, SEB Corporate Finance, Mannheimer Swartling and EY.

For more information please contact:
Tor Krusell, Head of Communications Altor Equity Partners +46 70 543 87 47
Bengt Maunsbach, Partner Altor Equity Partners and Member of the Board Piab +46 8 678 91 00
Anders Lindqvist, CEO Piab +46 8 630 25 00

About Altor
Since inception, the family of Altor funds has raised some EUR 5.8 billion in total commitments. The funds have invested in excess of EUR 3.4 billion in more than 40 companies. The investments have primarily been made in medium sized Nordic companies with the aim to create value through growth initiatives and operational improvements. Among current and past investments are Carnegie, Q-matic, EWOS, Ålö, Dustin and Norican. For more information visit www.altor.com.

About Piab
Established in 1951, Piab designs innovative vacuum solutions that improve the energy-efficiency, productivity, and working environments of vacuum users around the world. As a reliable partner to many of the world's largest manufacturers, Piab develops and manufactures a complete line of vacuum pumps, vacuum accessories, vacuum conveyors and suction cups for a variety of automated material handling and factory automation processes. Piab utilizes COAX® in many of its original products and solutions. COAX® cartridges are smaller, more energy efficient and more reliable than conventional ejectors, and can be integrated directly into machinery. This allows for the design of a flexible, modular vacuum system. Piab is a worldwide organization with subsidiaries and distributors in almost 70 countries. For more information visit www.piab.com.