Speed Group has been entrusted by an existing customer to expand operations in a business including traditional storage services as well as production-focused assembly and configuration services. The four-year contract is expected to generate additional sales of approximately SEK 100m per year and will commence in 2021.

“We are delighted to win new contracts in these times and to be given the opportunity to substantially increase our business with one of our most important customers. This is a result of long-term development efforts, in which our team proactively presented solutions that provide the customer with more efficient logistics,” says Mats Johnson, CEO of Speed Group.

“I am proud of the management and the company’s employees who have successfully worked to turn around the profitability trend for the company in the past year. The new contract from this existing customer is a confirmation that Speed Group supplies cost-efficient services with high quality and customer satisfaction. The company is now further solidifying its position as a leading third-party logistics player in the Nordic market,” says Christian Johansson Gebauer, Chairman of the Speed Group Board and Head of Business Area Construction & Services at Ratos.

Speed Group offers flexible solutions in logistics, staffing, recruitment and training. The company is one of the Nordic region’s leading third-party logistics (3PL) providers, with effective automation solutions and a total of just over 150,000 square metres of warehouse space in Borås, Gothenburg and Stockholm. At 30 June, rolling 12-month sales for Speed amounted to SEK 717m and the EBITA margin was 6%.

For further information, please contact:
Christian Johansson Gebauer, Head of Business Area Construction & Services, Ratos, +46 8 700 17 00
Helene Gustafsson, Head of IR and Press, Ratos, +46 8 700 17 98, helene.gustafsson@ratos.se

About Ratos:
Ratos is a business group consisting of 12 companies divided into three business areas: Construction & Services, Consumer & Technology and Industry. In total, the companies have SEK 38 billion in sales and EBITA of SEK 1.8 billion. Our business concept is to develop mid-sized companies headquartered in the Nordics that are or can become market leaders. We enable independent mid-sized companies to excel by being part of something larger. People, leadership, culture and values are key focus areas for Ratos. Everything we do is based on Ratos’s core values: Simplicity, Speed in Execution and It’s All About People.

DIF Capital Partners (“DIF”), through its DIF Core Infrastructure Fund I (“CIF I”), and French shipping giant CMA CGM, are pleased to announce that they have signed a sale and purchase agreement with HMM for the acquisition of a 50% less one share stake in the TTIA Container Terminal in Algeciras, which is located on the Spanish side of the Strait of Gibraltar. TTIA is currently 100% owned by HMM, the largest South Korean shipping line.

TTIA is a modern semi-automatic container terminal, strategically located in the bay of Algeciras, at the Strait of Gibraltar directly on the main shipping routes for containerized maritime traffic to Asia, Europe, the Mediterranean, North and West Africa as well as North and South America. Such a strategic location has allowed the terminal to maintain strong volumes despite the Covid-19 crisis. TTIA operates under a concession provided by the Port of Algeciras Bay Authority which runs until 2043.

TTIA will benefit from long-term support from both HMM and CMA CGM, who as major shipping companies and port operators, have decided to join forces to support and develop this strategic terminal.

Thomas Vieillescazes, partner of DIF, says: “We are delighted to initiate this partnership with CMA CGM, investing alongside world-leading shipping companies and port operators. TTIA is a modern and well-managed terminal, strategically located at the Strait of Gibraltar, with partners providing long-term volume support, making this an attractive investment for CIF I”.

The completion of the acquisition remains subject to certain conditions precedent, including antitrust and Algeciras Port Authority consents.

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF Capital Partners is a leading global independent infrastructure fund manager, with €7.5 billion of assets under management across nine closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF Capital Partners invests in greenfield and operational infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

• DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the telecom, energy and transportation sectors.
• DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams.

DIF has a team of over 145 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact: Thijs Verburg, IR & BD; t.verburg@dif.eu.

DIF Capital Partners (“DIF”), through its DIF Core Infrastructure Fund II (“CIF II”), is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement to acquire a 49% stake from the Touax Group in Touax Rail Limited (“Touax Rail” or the “Company”), a leading European rail freight leasing company, via a capital increase of €81.9 million. The investment by CIF II will enable Touax Rail to accelerate the development of its long-term leasing activities of freight wagons.

Touax Rail is offering tailor-made and environmentally friendly solutions for leasing rail equipment such as intermodal, car carrying, hopper, box and tank wagons. Services offered comprise leasing, sale and maintenance of freight railcars. The Company has a fleet size of c. 6,930 owned platforms and c. 4,080 managed platforms. Touax Rail is fully certified to manage and maintain wagons used on the mainline railway tracks in Europe.

The transaction will strengthen the position of Touax Rail by increasing its capacity to grow and finance the needs of its customers. The capital increase will be primarily used to buy out minority shareholders and to finance the acquisition of new wagons.

Fabrice Walewski, CEO of Touax Group, said: “We are very delighted to have DIF Capital Partners as partner to accompany the development of our long-term leasing activities of freight wagons. With this transaction, Touax Rail will strengthen its position in the market.”

Carl Jobst von Hoersten, partner and head of DIF Germany added: “This transaction is a unique investment providing exclusive access to the attractive railcar market. Touax Rail is a well-established, asset heavy railcar platform with a robust and resilient business model which is well-positioned for growth. We look forward working together with Touax Rail’s highly experienced management team to further grow the platform.”

The transaction is subject to approval by the German antitrust authorities. Parties expect to close the transaction by the end of September.

About Touax Group

Touax Group leases out tangible assets (freight railcars, river barges and containers) on a daily basis throughout the world, for its own account and on behalf of third party investors. With €1.2 billion under management, Touax Group is one of the European leaders in the operational leasing of this type of equipment. For more information: www.touax.com

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF Capital Partners is a leading global independent infrastructure fund manager, with €7.5 billion of assets under management across nine closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF Capital Partners invests in greenfield and operational infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

• DIF CIF funds target equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the telecom, energy and transportation sectors.
• DIF Infrastructure funds target equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, utilities and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams.

DIF has a team of over 145 professionals, based in nine offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto. Please visit www.dif.eu for further information.

Contact: Thijs Verburg, IR & BD; t.verburg@dif.eu.

LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Apr. 23, 2020– KKR, a leading global investment firm, and Mirastar, a specialist developer, investor and manager of industrial and logistics (I&L) assets in Europe, announced that KKR has acquired a strategic stake in Mirastar from M7 Real Estate.

The transaction will further expand KKR’s presence in European I&L real estate. To date, KKR and Mirastar have acquired a 49,000 sqm forward funding project in the Netherlands and aim to continue assembling a high-quality portfolio of assets and development projects in gateway cities across Western Europe. Mirastar will be the primary platform for I&L real estate transactions in Europe.

KKR has a significant recent track record in the I&L real estate market across Europe, having acquired c.800,000 sqm of I&L space over the last 24 months across France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, and Ireland. The investment in Mirastar was made through a European real estate fund managed by KKR.

Mirastar was co-founded in 2019 by Ekaterina Avdonina, Chief Executive Officer, and Anthony Butler, Chief Investment Officer, with initial platform backing from M7 Real Estate. The team currently comprises 15 senior real estate professionals and has offices in London, Madrid and Rotterdam.

Guillaume Cassou, Partner and Head of European Real Estate at KKR, commented: “Logistics real estate continues to be an attractive market for KKR, despite the challenges of the current market environment, with strong investment fundamentals and future growth drivers. We look forward to building on our existing relationship with Mirastar to leverage these trends, investing in the continued supply of high-quality assets to meet the growing tenant demand evident across Europe and further building KKR’s footprint in European logistics.”

Ekaterina Avdonina, CEO of Mirastar, commented: “Against the difficult market backdrop prompted by the outbreak of Covid-19, our conviction in the underlying, long-term structural forces behind the growth of logistics real estate remains. Since launching last year, we have demonstrated our ability to execute our strategy and, by extending our strong working relationship with KKR, we look forward to building on that further. We have identified an attractive pipeline and are well placed to act on opportunities in the market.”

Anthony Butler, CIO of Mirastar, commented: “We are grateful to M7 Real Estate for the initial backing and now that our platform is more established we will continue to expand across more geographies with the support of KKR, as both shareholder and primary investor. Due to our combined development and investment expertise along with backing of a world class investor the future looks very exciting as the logistics sector continues to strengthen at a faster pace.”

Richard Croft, Executive Chairman of M7 Real Estate, commented: “Backing new ventures has always been a passion of M7’s and having supported Ekaterina and Anthony with the launch of their business, it is pleasing to see them move into the next phase of growth with KKR. We wish them well on their future journey.”

ENDS

Note to Editors:

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate and credit, with strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns for its fund investors by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation with KKR portfolio companies. KKR invests its own capital alongside the capital it manages for fund investors and provides financing solutions and investment opportunities through its capital markets business. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

About Mirastar

Mirastar is a specialist pan-European developer, investor and manager of big box logistics co-founded in 2019 by Ekaterina Avdonina, Chief Executive Officer, and Anthony Butler, Chief Investment Officer with initial platform backing from M7 Real Estate. Mirastar has a high-quality portfolio of assets/development projects across the Netherlands with an exit GDV in excess of €100 million and is currently expanding into the UK and Spain. Mirastar comprises a team of 15 senior real estate professionals with over 210 years of total experience and has offices in London, Madrid and Rotterdam.

For additional information please visit Mirastar’s website at www.mirastar.eu

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200423005055/en/

For enquiries:
KKR:
Finsbury
Alastair Elwen
Tel: +44 20 7251 3801
kkr@finsbury.com

Source: KKR

On October 11, Investment AB Latour signed an agreement to acquire Caljan based in Århus, Denmark. All closing conditions have now been fulfilled and the transaction has been completed as of November 29.

Göteborg, November 29, 2019

INVESTMENT AB LATOUR (PUBL)
Johan Hjertonsson, CEO

For further information, please contact:
Johan Hjertonsson, President and CEO Investment AB Latour +46 702 29 77 93
Anders Mörck, CFO Investment AB Latour +46 706 46 52 11
Gustav Samuelsson, Director M&A, Investment AB Latour, +46 46 735 52 55 59
Investment AB Latour is a mixed investment company consisting primarily of a wholly-owned industrial operations and an investment portfolio of listing holdings in which Latour is the principal owner or one of the principal owners. The investment portfolio consists of nine substantial holdings with a market value of about SEK 64 billion. The wholly-owned industrial operations have an annual turnover of about SEK 13 billion.

• Press release 2019-11-29

Addition of Polymer Logistics will enhance Tosca’s geographic and product diversification and build on strong innovation platform

Atlanta, Georgia, USA, October 16, 2019: Tosca, an innovator in reusable packaging and supply chain solutions in the United States, announced today that it has agreed to acquire Polymer Logistics (“Polymer”), an innovative company specializing in reusable transport packaging and retail merchandising systems in the United States and Europe, from a consortium of private investors.

In conjunction with the transaction, funds advised by Apax Partners (the “Apax Funds”), which acquired Tosca in 2017, will commit additional capital to Tosca to fund the acquisition of Polymer. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Tosca has a 60-year history of innovation that has driven its growth into a leading North American provider of reusable packaging and supply chain solutions across a wide array of markets. Today the company employs more than 950 people and operates 14 service centers across the US, working with the nation’s largest and most influential grocery retailers and suppliers to provide solutions for shipping perishables, reducing shrink and driving supply chain efficiency.

Founded in 1994, Polymer is a leader in retail ready packaging systems and technologies. The company provides reusable containers and other packaging and related services to grocery end markets, as well as retail, logistics and consumer goods customers. Its manufacturing operations are based in Israel and the company operates across the US, the UK and Continental Europe.

The acquisition of Polymer will expand Tosca’s geographic reach and increase its product portfolio. This will offer customers a stronger value proposition through increased network density, particularly in the US, and an expanded product offering.

Eric Frank, CEO of Tosca stated: “The acquisition of Polymer represents a major milestone in Tosca’s growth. Polymer is a leading RPC provider, with a broad international footprint, vertically integrated manufacturing operation, and a shared focus on innovation that will allow us to significantly enhance our geographic reach and offer customers an expanded product line to better meet their needs.”

Ashish Karandikar, Partner at Apax Partners, said: “We are excited to support Tosca in this transformational acquisition. Polymer has a strong track record of financial performance and a culture of innovation. The acquisition allows Tosca to access attractive markets outside of the US, while benefiting from scale, cross-selling opportunities, and collaboration on innovation.”

Gideon Feiner, Founder and CEO of Polymer Logistics, noted: “Tosca and Polymer have a shared commitment to service excellence, innovation and reducing waste throughout the supply chain. I am excited about the possibilities that will be created by our combined company and am looking forward to stepping into a new leadership role at the planned Cleanpal® unit.”

Following the close of the acquisition, Tosca intends to carve out Polymer’s Cleanpal® reusable pallets business as a separate unit within the company. Polymer Founder and CEO Gideon Feiner will assume the role of its CEO.

About Tosca 

Tosca is a leading provider of reusable packaging and supply chain solutions across a diverse range of products including eggs, case-ready meat, poultry, produce, and cheese. Our proven RPC system is a smarter way to move fresh product safely from source to shelf, substantially reducing shrink and labor cost, maintaining product quality, and optimizing overall supply chain efficiency for retailers, growers, and suppliers. For more information visit: www.toscaltd.com.

About Polymer

Polymer Logistics is a provider of Retail Returnable Packaging (“RRP”) solutions to leading retailers and suppliers mainly in the US, Continental Europe and the UK. It designs and supplies reusable RRP units that function as both transport storage containers/pallets and in-store displays. The Group is a provider of pool equipment services, supplying RRP units directly to retailers, or indirectly to major suppliers to retailers, through rental agreements. Both methods are aimed at establishing long term rental relationships with customers. Polymer Logistics is based in The Netherlands with subsidiaries in the UK, Italy, Israel, the US and branch offices in Spain and in Austria.

About Apax Partners

Apax Partners is a leading global private equity advisory firm. Over its more than 40-year history, Apax Partners has raised and advised funds with aggregate commitments of approximately $50 billion. The Apax Funds invest in companies across four global sectors of Tech & Telco, Services, Healthcare and Consumer. These funds provide long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. For more information see: www.apax.com.

Media Contacts

For Tosca

Susan Heil, Tosca I +1 920 569 5335 I sheil@toscaltd.com

For Polymer Logistics

Shlomit Gotlib, Polymer Logistics I +97 2 54 6923064 I Shlomit.Gotlib@polymerlogistics.com

For Apax Partners

Global Media: Andrew Kenny, Apax | +44 20 7 872 6371 | andrew.kenny@apax.com

USA Media: Todd Fogarty, Kekst CNC | +1 212 521 4854 | todd.fogarty@kekstcnc.com

UK Media: Matthew Goodman / James Madsen, Greenbrook | +44 20 7952 2000 | apax@greenbrookpr.com

Notes to Editors 

London-headquartered Apax Partners (www.apax.com), and Paris-headquartered Apax Partners (www.apax.fr) had a shared history but are separate, independent private equity firms.