Author: Elina Härkönen

Intera’s new address as of 1 January 2016 is Keskuskatu 1a, 00100 Helsinki

The leading Nordic plastic household company Orthex Group has been acquired by Finnish Private Equity firm, Sponsor Capital together with Orthex’ Management. Intera Fund I exited Orthex on December 21, 2015.

Intera invested in Orthex, Finland’s leading manufacturer of plastic household products, in 2009. Soon after Intera invested in Orthex, group was expanded in Nordics by acquiring Swedish household companies, Sveico and Hammarplast. During Intera’s ownership, the company sales grew organically and via acquisitions from 12 million to approx. 60 million euros.

Today Orthex is the leading manufacturer and marketer of plastic household products in the Nordics. Orthex manufactures over 85% of its products locally in its three factories in Finland and Sweden. The key advantages of Orthex’ products are product safety, high quality and an excellent combination of functionality and design. During the past five years the company has rapidly developed from three local companies into a sizeable international group that delivers products to over 40 countries around the world. Orthex sells products in five different product categories: Storage, Kitchen, Children, Home&Yard and Garden products under three strong brands: Orthex, SmartStore and Gastromax.

Orthex CEO Alexander Rosenlew who together with his management team has transformed Orthex Group into a market leader with a great potential for future growth will continue in his role as CEO. The change in ownership starts a new era in the company and the whole management team is eager to achieve the ambitious targets set together with the new owner. Alexander Rosenlew says “Our proven strategy is to serve all our customers and consumers better every day. Furthermore, we have a strong growth potential on big European markets such as Germany, France and the UK where Nordic design, quality and product safety are highly appreciated.”

“We want to thank Orthex CEO Alexander Rosenlew and the whole Management Team for their hard work and commitment to building Orthex Group to a leading manufacturer and marketer of household products in the Nordic region”, says Janne Näränen from Intera Partners. “Orthex is well-positioned to continue to grow both in the Nordics as well as in international markets under the new majority owner”, Näränen continues.

Sponsor Capital is excited to start working with Orthex, which has a strong Nordic market position and very committed and skilled employees. “A superior customer service and innovative concepts combined with a strong management and efficient operations provide a solid base for profitable growth”, says Juuso Kivinen from Sponsor Capital. “We are delighted to support Orthex in its next development phase”, continues Kivinen.

For further information, please contact:
Intera Partners Oy, Janne Näränen, Partner, tel: +358 50 566 4869
janne.naranen@interapartners.fi

Orthex Group
Develops, produces and markets functional household products to customers and consumers. The offering is based on appealing and innovative concepts, responsibly produced mass market products of high quality and strong brands. Today Orthex Group is the leading Nordic producer of household products that make everyday life easier. The company has a strong tradition of manufacturing and marketing household products since 1914. The products are sold to consumers through most of the major retail chains and discount stores in the Nordic countries and in some 40 different countries worldwide. Total turnover in 2015 is approx. M€ 60 and the number of employees is approx. 300.

In connection to Consti Yhtiöt Oy’s successful initial public offering on the main list of NASDAQ Helsinki Stock Exchange and related share sale on December 11, 2015, Intera Fund I Ky has sold a majority of its ownership in Consti to institutional and retail buyers.

The initial public offering marks an important milestone for rapidly growing Consti, which was established in 2008 by Intera together with the leading entrepreneurs of the industry. Since its founding, Consti has grown to become the one of the leading companies focusing on renovation and technical services in Finland) by implementing a buy & build –acquisition strategy and investing significantly in recruitments and organic growth.

The starting point for Consti was the industrial vision developed by Intera’s senior advisor Erkki Norvio in 2007. During the early planning, the market opportunity in renovation construction was identified, and the initial business plan for Consti was created. The original investment thesis about capturing the fundamental volume growth opportunity by creation of a new multi-disciplined specialist and market leader still holds to date.

The execution of Consti’s buy and build -business plan started by acquiring Koja Tekniikka, the first of the three platform pillars in August 2008. Koja formed the core of Consti’s technical building systems division and the platform creation was continued by acquisitions of Raita and JRH in the following year to add the building facades and general renovation –business units to Consti. These acquisitions were then complemented with 11 add-on acquisitions by early 2011. Vast majority of the entrepreneurs who joined Consti continued in managerial roles in the newly established group.

After the IPO, Intera continues as the single largest shareholder (ca. 12%) for Consti. Erkki Norvio and Janne Näränen will continue in their board member roles in Consti.

Finland’s leading children’s indoor play centre chain HopLop Oy will continue its growth with the backing of a private equity firm Intera Partners. Intera will support HopLop in strengthening its competitiveness and enabling an accelerated pace of new openings. HopLop was the first indoor play centre operator in Finland by opening its first location in Vantaa in 2006. The company has acquired a leading position through a chain of 18 play centres that have become popular among young families. HopLop provides a wide range of activities for children in addition to services such as birthday parties.

“Co-operation with Intera is an important step forward for HopLop. As a founding member I am very pleased that we can now continue to improve our business and strengthen our market position. In addition, we are now in a position to consider our growth prospects also internationally,” explains HopLop CEO Tomi Pulkki.

Several new indoor play centres to be opened open in Finland

HopLop continues its expansion in Finland and will open several new play centres over the next few years. Most recent opening was in Vaasa in July and on 13th of October HopLop will launch a new play centre in Turku at Länsikeskus shopping centre.

“We have plenty of further growth potential in Finland. Our play centres and business model relate to families with children and encourage children to exercise through play and joy,” Pulkki continues.

“HopLop is the leading operator in Finland with an experienced management team, an effective operating concept and a strong brand. HopLop’s scalable business model enables an accelerated growth pace,” explains Janne Näränen of Intera Equity Partners. “We believe that there will continue to be an important role for services providing active exercise for children also in the future.”
For further details please contact:

Tomi Pulkki, CEO, HopLop Oy, tel. +358 46 850 1712
tomi.pulkki@hoplop.fi

Janne Näränen, Partner, Intera Partners Oy, tel. +358 50 566 4869
janne.naranen@interapartners.fi

HopLop Oy
HopLop Oy is Finland’s leading chain of children’s indoor play centre chain in Finland. HopLop’s first play centre was opened at Vantaa Retail Park in the spring of 2006, and the company now operates a total of 18 play centres in Espoo, Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Kerava, Kuopio, Lahti, Lappeenranta, Lempäälä Ideapark, Oulu, Pori, Porvoo, Riihimäki, Rovaniemi, Tampere, Turku, Vaasa and Vantaa. www.hoplop.fi

Juhana Kallio joins Intera as of September 1st, 2015. Juhana has more than 12 years of experience in investment banking having worked at Danske Bank and Nordea Bank in Helsinki and Goldman Sachs International in London. At Danske Bank, he led the private equity and financial services coverage of Corporate Finance Finland from 2007 to 2015.

“Juhana is a strong addition to Intera’s team, and his long experience in investment banking is highly valuable to us,” CEO Jokke Paananen comments.

“Intera has a dynamic team and a very strong track record in supporting Finnish growth companies as well as in creating new market leaders. I am excited in joining Intera and confident that my experience complements the team very well”, says Juhana Kallio.

For more information, please contact Jokke Paananen +358 9 2525 2200.

Stella purchases Esperi response alarm and home care services. The Finnish pioneer of home-delivered services, Stella, has completed a merger that transforms the company into a national service provider.
“We have been determined to improve our services, expand nationally, and build our expertise in home-delivered services from the very beginning, and so this merger was a natural progression for Stella,” says Commercial Director Mats Rönnback.

The merger expands operations previously based in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and Tampere to cover the whole of Finland. Stella provides its customers with a home safety telephone, a home doctor service, home hospital care, nursing and physiotherapy, housekeeping and childcare. Service provision will expand in coming years to cover urban growth centres, Rönnback explains:
“People in Finland are keen to continue living at home for as long as possible while retaining access to the high standard services and support that they need. Our diversified service makes this a feasible option.”

The merger makes Stella the largest provider of response alarm services in Finland. Business Manager Sini Juuti provides the figures:
“We currently serve about 35,000 care phone customers in various parts of Finland, and we also have about 160 local authority customer accounts.”
A care phone increases feelings of personal security and gives people freedom of residence and mobility in their own homes. In addition to the conventional safety bracelet, Stella now also provides geolocation bracelets with real-time GPS tracking:
“We can see great potential in applying cutting-edge technology for the benefit of our customers, and we shall continue the trends that Esperi has pioneered,” Juuti explains.
The merger also gives Stella the benefit of important expertise in home care services accumulated over decades at Esperi.

Esperi Care Oy will continue providing diversified housing and care services for the elderly and for people with special needs. Managing Director Marja Aarnio-Isohanni outlines the company’s ambitions:
“We are always looking for effective new ways of arranging services such as comfortable housing for the elderly that is cost-effective for local authorities. We believe that the Esperi home care and response alarm service is in good hands at Stella.”

Stella praised for unhurried service
Smooth co-operation of Stella professionals is the key to high service standards. Juuti points out that the company is dedicated to arranging services without haste:
“We are keen to continue ensuring that there is always time to interact with the customer.”

For more information, please contact:
Mats Rönnback, Commercial Director, Stella Homecare, +358 50 466 6298, mats.ronnback@stella.fi
Tuomas Lang, Chairman, Partner, Intera Partners, +358 40 545 1240, tuomas.lang@interapartners.fi

Stella is the market leader in home-delivered services, with 15 years of solid experience as a pioneer of home care and health services, annual turnover of some 20 million euros and a staff of about 500 people. The merger also gives Finnish Industry Investment Ltd a significant stake in Stella, with the private equity firm Intera Partners Oy continuing as principal owner. The safety telephone and home care service provider Esperi turvapuhelin- ja kotihoitopalvelut Oy will be renamed as Stella Turvapuhelin ja Hoiva Oy, and will operate as a sister company of Stella Homecare Ltd under mutually congruent management. www.stella.fi

Insinööritoimisto Seppo Rantala Oy gains additional resources to support growth, as Intera Partners invests in the company. The company will become part of Infrak Group, which specialises in demanding infrastructure construction and currently comprises Fin-Seula Oy and Kesälahden Maansiirto Oy. The company’s CEO and main owner, Sami Rantala, will continue with the company and also becomes a shareholder in Infrak Group. The Group’s pro-forma sales amounted to over 140 million euros in 2013.

”Insinööritoimisto Seppo Rantala Oy is one of the leading players in Finland in demanding bridge construction projects and it has a good reputation among its customers and in the sector. We are very pleased with the company joining Infrak Group, as it will complement our existing offering particularly well and also further strengthens our bridge construction capabilities,” says Janne Näränen, Partner at Intera.

“A new significant player is emerging in the Finnish infrastructure construction market. We decided to join Infrak Group partly because we are familiar with the other Group companies and they have proven to be excellent partners in previous projects. This step will also enable the execution of even larger and more diverse projects. Furthermore, this is an excellent outcome for the continuity of the company and its employees,” comments Sami Rantala, CEO of Insinööritoimisto Seppo Rantala Oy.

The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of September and it will not have an impact on the business or the employees of the company.

Further information:
Sami Rantala, Insinööritoimisto Seppo Rantala Oy, CEO, tel. 0400 624 510, sami.rantala@srantala.com
Janne Näränen, Intera Partners, Partner, tel. 050 566 4869, janne.naranen@interapartners.fi
www.srantala.com and www.interapartners.fi

Insinööritoimisto Seppo Rantala Oy
Founded in 1972, Insinööritoimisto Seppo Rantala Oy specialises in bridge construction and renovation. The company has delivered projects throughout Finland and it is one of the leading players in demanding bridge construction projects in the country. In 2013, the company’s sales amounted to approximately 16 million euros.

Kesälahden Maansiirto Oy
Kesälahden Maansiirto Oy ranks in size among the top-10 Finnish infrastructure contracting companies. The company has over four decades of experience in demanding infrastructure projects in bridge and industrial construction, earth construction and environmental construction. The company’s customers include both the public sector and private companies. Net sales grew profitably to approximately 80 million euros in 2013. Kesälahden Maansiirto has locations in Kesälahti, Lappeenranta, Mäntsälä and Joensuu and the company operates throughout the country. Intera became a shareholder in Kesälahden Maansiirto in June 2014.

Fin-Seula Oy
Fin-Seula Oy is an infrastructure contractor specialising in turn-key deliveries. The company’s customers include both public and private sector clients. The company’s offering includes foundation and concrete construction as well as traffic network construction. Additionally, Fin-Seula is a shareholder in KFS Finland Oy which offers special foundation services such as stabilisation. Combined sales of Fin-Seula and KFS Finland were over 50 million euros in 2013. Intera became a shareholder in Fin-Seula in March 2014.

Following years of strong growth and geographical expansion Rototec, the leading Nordic geoenergy drilling company, has entered into a strategic partnership with Intera to support the Company’s continued development. Intera Fund II Ky becomes Rototec’s majority shareholder while the Company’s founders and key employees continue as minority owners.

“We wanted to ensure that we have sufficient resources for the future development of our business,” says Mikko Ojanne, CEO of Rototec. “In Intera we found a partner that is experienced in working together with entrepreneurs and has the tools to support our international growth.”

Growth in the ground source heat pump (“GSHP”) market is driven by cost and energy efficiency. GSHPs are used as heating and cooling systems for single houses as well as increasingly for larger properties such as apartment buildings, office buildings, shopping malls and hospitals.

“Rototec is a pioneer in its sector. With its experienced organization and drilling equipment fleet that is by far the largest in the Nordics, Rototec can provide its customers a flexible and reliable offering in geoenergy systems for both small and large buildings,” says Jokke Paananen, CEO of Intera. “We believe that geoenergy as a clean and renewable alternative will continue to have a significant role as a source of heating and cooling.”

For further information, please contact:
Mikko Ojanne, Rototec, CEO, +46 70 95 21 481, mikko.ojanne@rototec.net
Jokke Paananen, Intera Partners, CEO, +358 50 300 3737, jokke.paananen@interapartners.fi

Rototec is a provider of geoenergy solutions, including thermal response tests (TRT), earth energy design and geoenergy drilling to ground source heat pump systems. Rototec offers cost efficient and environmentally friendly renewable energy solutions to private customers, corporations, construction companies and the public sector. Rototec’s net sales in 2013 were 22 million euros. More information: www.rototec.se, www.rototec.fi, www.rototec.no

Intera Fund II invests in Silmäasema, Finland’s leading provider of eye care services and second largest optician chain. Intera Partners is now the majority shareholder in Silmäasema Fennica Group. In connection with the transaction, members of the current management of Silmäasema Fennica will become important minority holders. Eye doctors with key positions in the chain will continue as minority holders. The ownership base will be extended to other key persons within the company in the near future.

Intera’s involvement facilitates Silmäasema’s future growth, and accelerates development of its business operations. Intera’s ChairmanTuomas Lang says: “Silmäasema provides comprehensive services to its customers and has invested strongly in eye care services. We at Intera see great opportunities in Silmäasema’s operational concept of one-stop-shop in optician, eye doctor, and eye surgery services.”

Silmäasema aims to extend not only in terms of the range of products and services it provides, but also geographically. “We offer all products and services relating to vision and eye care under one roof. For retailers, opticians, chain merchants, and opticians, we offer a unique opportunity to work as part of a rapidly developing specialist company in the field. Intera Partners’ expertise and experience in the development and extending of business operations benefit our clients and cooperation partners”, says Silmäasema Managing Director Pasi Kohmo.

Completion of the transaction is subject to approval by the competition authorities. Closing of the deal is expected to take place by the end of August.

For more information, please contact:
Tuomas Lang, Chairman, Partner, Intera Partners, tel. +358 40 545 1240, tuomas.lang@interapartners.fi
Pasi Kohmo, Managing Director, Silmäasema Fennica, tel. +358 50 331 7015, pasi.kohmo@silmaasema.fi

Silmäasema chain provides all manner of services and products relating to eye care and vision: it provides optical products, optician services, eye disease specialist services, eye surgery services, and eye laboratory services all in the same place. In addition to 73 optical retail outlets and 48 operator-run outlets, the company offers eye care services at ten Silmäsairaala eye hospitals in Finland. All stores in the chain offer eye doctor and optician services.  Each outlet also employs an optician with special training in occupational vision. For more information: www.silmaasema.fi

Medical service provider Doctagon’s home services and household cleaning company Kodinavux have merged to form Stella Homecare. The new company is already a strong player in the private market for home services.

As a home services specialist Stella offers a broad range of medical and household services to people’s homes. “Stella wants to help and make everyday life easier by making quality services easily accessible. From us you can get all the services you need with one phone call,” comments Stella’s CEO Mats Rönnback.

“Both Doctagon and Kodinavux have been forerunners in their own segments in Finland: Doctagon in home doctor services and Kodinavux in household services,” notes Mats Rönnback. “Stella will continue this work. We want to take home services to the next level and actively develop the industry because the need and demand for home services are constantly growing in Finland.”

Stella’s service offering is the industry’s broadest. Now the customer is able to get medical home services and various support services from the same service provider. “Customer focus is the starting point of Stella’s operations and this shows in the quality of the services.  All professionals work seamlessly together to provide comprehensive help and support for the customers. This approach is new in the market for private home services,” states Mats Rönnback.

The new company is owned by its management together with Intera Partners. “Intera’s participation enables us to accomplish our vision to develop and grow as an enabler of happier lives,” says Mats Rönnback.

For additional information:
Mats Rönnback, Stella Kotipalvelut Oy, CEO, tel. 050 466 6298, mats.ronnback@stella.fi.
Tuomas Lang, Intera Partners, partner, tel. 040 545 1240, tuomas.lang@interapartners.fi