Advania announces the acquisition of Visolit to create one of the strongest and fastest growing IT service providers in the Nordics.

Advania AB (“Advania”), one of the leading full-service IT providers in the Nordics and has reached a definitive agreement with IK Investment Partners (“IK”) to acquire Visolit AS (“Visolit”), a leading provider of corporate IT solutions and cloud services across Sweden and Norway, from the IK VII Fund and other shareholders.

The combined group (the “Company”) will be one of the strongest and fastest-growing IT service providers in the Nordics, with a total turnover in excess of SEK 9 billion in 2021 and approximately 2,550 employees. The Company will leverage the commercial strengths, resources, and expertise of both the Advania and Visolit platforms to offer a highly compelling, future-ready suite of products and services to its customer base – with the combination enabling a broader, deeper and more differentiated offering, even more closely tailored to each customer. Furthermore, the combination will create a first-rate workplace for employees, allowing the exceptional talent from both companies to thrive in an entrepreneurial environment and with a decentralised model close to customers.

• The combined group will have a turnover in excess of SEK 9 billion, approximately 2,550 employees and will leverage the expertise of both Advania and Visolit to offer a broad and deep range of compelling IT services tailored to each customer.
• The aim is to create the preferred Nordic IT services provider, fueled by exceptional talent from both companies to thrive in an entrepreneurial environment with a decentralized model close to the customer.
• Advania, with a heritage dating back to its inception in Iceland in 1939, is a leading IT-provider in the Nordics with operations in Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Denmark and Finland.
• Visolit, with a heritage dating back to its inception in Norway 1997, is a leading IT-provider in the Nordics with operations in Norway and Sweden.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management will continue to be the majority shareholder of the Advania group, whilst the IK IX Fund will join as a new minority shareholder in the combined group post-closing, forming a strong new partnership with in-depth Nordic IT-service expertise.

Mikael Noaksson, CEO of Advania, said: “We are extremely excited about the combination of our business with Visolit which represents a substantial step towards becoming the preferred Nordic IT-services company. Joining forces will enable us to get even closer to our customers and to serve our combined customer bases with a broader and better offering.”

Terje Mjøs, CEO of Visolit, said: “We are proud of what we have built at Visolit since 1997, with our position in Norway and Sweden. The combination with Advania as a leading player in the Nordics will allow us to provide the best offering to the combined customer base of this exciting new venture.”

Michael Bruun, Head of the EMEA Private Equity Business at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said: “After the acquisition of a majority stake in Advania earlier in 2021, we are very excited about the combination of Advania and Visolit, two highly complementary businesses which we expect together will deliver a highly compelling value proposition to their combined client base.”

Alireza Etemad, Partner at IK Investment Partners and Advisor to the IK VII and IK IX Funds, said: “Since the IK VII Fund’s investment in 2016, we have supported the strong team at Visolit to grow and future-proof their business in an evolving IT landscape. The combination with Advania is a natural step in this journey of creating a leading player across the Nordics. We are delighted to continue our partnership by investing in the combined business and are excited to help create the Nordic IT services company of choice.”

Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE, Sweden Bankfilial acted as financial advisor to Advania. Raymond James acted as financial advisor to Visolit.

The closing of the transaction is expected during second half of 2021 and is subject to, amongst other things, regulatory and antitrust review and approval.

For more information, please contact:

Advania AB
Mikael Noaksson, CEO
Email: mikael.noaksson@advania.com
Phone: +46 76 140 00 80

Visolit Group
Terje Mjøs, CEO
Email: terje.mjos@visolit.no
Phone: +47 900 34 159

Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Joseph Stein, Media Relations
Email: joseph.stein@gs.com
Phone: +44 20 7774 2523

IK Investment Partners
Maitland/AMO
Email: IK-Maitland@maitland.co.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 7342 704 229