• EQT Private Equity acquires 29.6 percent of the shares and 26.4 percent of the votes in Beijer Ref, a world-leading wholesaler of cooling technology and air conditioning, and thereby becomes the largest shareholder

• Beijer Ref provides a wide range of products within commercial refrigeration, industrial refrigeration, air conditioning and heating, to customers around the world

• EQT will support Beijer Ref on its continued growth journey both organically and through acquisitions, and will through its strong commitment towards sustainability seek to further develop the Company into a sustainability leader in its industry

EQT is pleased to announce that EQT Private Equity has entered into an agreement regarding the acquisition of 2,152,260 A-shares and 35,631,616 B-shares in Beijer Ref AB (“Beijer Ref” or “the Company”), for a total value of approximately USD 1.1 billion, representing 29.6 percent of the shares and 26.4 percent[1] of the votes, from Carrier Global Corporation (“Carrier”). The Company is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, Large Cap segment.

Founded in Sweden in 1866, Beijer Ref is a global leader within refrigeration, air conditioning and heating wholesale with strong local and global market presence across 425 branches through which it serves more than 100,000 customers. Beijer Ref is headquartered in Malmö, Sweden and has approximately 3,700 employees.

EQT will support Beijer Ref’s growth journey, which will include acquisitions and organic expansion, as well as investments in digitalization and automation initiatives. Moreover, the Company is expected to benefit from EQT’s strong commitment towards sustainability and shares a clear ambition of becoming a sustainability leader, by leveraging its local Beijer Ref academies and promoting green technologies to both suppliers and customers.

Albert Gustafsson, Partner at EQT Partners, said: “We have followed Beijer Ref for many years and have been very impressed by their consistently strong performance. Beijer Ref represents a truly thematic investment for us. We are excited by the opportunity to now work together with the Company, the Board and its management team, and we have a strong conviction around Beijer Ref’s ability to drive change in its industry. In particular, we look forward to supporting Beijer Ref in its efforts to promote the phase-out of F-gas dependent solutions in favor of sustainable greentech technologies”.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of December 2020, subject to the receipt of a required regulatory approval.

EQT was advised by White & Case (legal), EY (tax), KPMG (financial) and The Footprint Firm (ESG).

With this transaction, EQT IX is expected to be 20-25 percent invested (including closed and/or signed investments, announced public offers, if applicable, and less any expected syndication) based on its target fund size, and subject to customary regulatory approvals.

Contact
Albert Gustafsson, Partner at EQT Partners and Investment Advisor to EQT Private Equity, +4673 314 99 87
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with more than EUR 75 billion in raised capital and over EUR 46 billion in assets under management across 16 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America with total sales of more than EUR 27 billion and approximately 159,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
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About Beijer Ref
Founded in 1866, Beijer Ref is a Swedish technology-oriented trading Group which, through added-value products, offers its customers competitive solutions within refrigeration and climate control. Beijer Ref is one of the largest refrigeration wholesalers in the world, and is represented in 36 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. Beijer Ref is headquartered in Malmö with approximately 3,700 employees and is listed in the Large Cap segment on Nasdaq Stockholm. Based on the last twelve months as of 30 September 2020, Beijer Ref reported net sales of approximately SEK 14.1 billion and EBITDA of approximately SEK 1.5 billion.

More info: www.beijerref.com

[1] Based on the total number of shares and votes including 897,980 B-shares held by the Company in treasury.

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