Munich/Oslo, December 23, 2020 – The NDS Group AS, a subsidiary of AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN: DE000A0JK2A8), acquires the Norwegian marine distributor Sola Shipping AS, one of Norway’s leading distributors of marine chemicals and boat care products. This first add-on acquisition confirms the growth strategy of the NDS Group and further increases the share in the Norwegian market. The transaction also underlines Aurelius’ strategy to strengthen its portfolio companies via add-ons.
Sola Shipping AS offers a wide range of marine supplies to over 800 customers in Norway. The assortment ranges from antifouling, paint, and chemicals, over to service parts, boat care, and consumables. The company is an exclusive distributor of the brand “Seajet” in Norway with market leading products.
The highly complementary product portfolios will be integrated into the existing marine business unit of the NDS Group. Customers of both companies will greatly benefit from the combined business that is built on the nation-wide logistic infrastructure of the NDS Group.
“The acquisition of Sola Shipping AS confirms the growth strategy to continue the new era as a one-stop-shop distribution and service provider in the Nordic region” says NDS Group CEO Janno Gröne. “We are confident that the NDS Group will also benefit from synergies of this add-on acquisition”.
Leif Lupp, Managing Director Aurelius Nordics: “After having executed the carve-out of NDS, Aurelius’ operations organisation has implemented substantial operational improvements. We have also invested significantly in topline growth, as evidenced by our new customer wins in 2020. With the acquisition of Sola Shipping, the next phase of the Aurelius value creation model has now been launched. We are looking forward to continuously growing NDS through acquisitions, in Norway as well as throughout the Nordics.”
The transaction was completed on December 23, 2020.
Aurelius was advised on the transaction by Handelsbanken (Financial), Schjødt (Legal) as well as KPMG (Tax).
