EQT sells security business to Siemens

Nordic private equity firm EQT, private industrial group Mellby Gård, and co-investors have signed an agreement to sell Swedish access security provider Bewator to Siemens for an undisclosed sum.

EQT acquired 67 percent of Bewator from Mellby Gård in December 2002 for approximately €50 million, EQT partner Fredrik Åtting told PEO.

Atting: Finland fund now fully divested

The investment was made from the firm’s EQT Finland fund, which closed on €138 million in 1999. Åtting said that Bewator is the last divestment from the fund, which will be fully exited once the deal has completed.

The only other acquisition by the fund, Nordic liquid chemicals logistics business ADR-Haanpää, was sold to Pamplona Capital Management in June of this year.

Åtting added that the Lehman Brothers-managed sale of Bewator was triggered by approaches from a number of trade buyers.

“We have carried out a number of changes to the business, including investment in sales and marketing, as well as four add-on acquisitions in the access security area,” said Åtting. “Also, last year, we divested a parking meter business which was non-core, so we reshaped the business to be 100 percent focused on access security. That kind of pure play in access security is quite a rarity, so we felt it was time to listen to offers from trade buyers.”

Solna, Sweden-based Bewator develops and supplies access controls and video controls for security installers to more than 45 countries. According to EQT, sales have increased from approximately MSEK300 in 2002 to around MSEK500 in 2005.

Based in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Frankfurt and Munich, EQT currently manages approximately €6 billion in equity, and has invested in 39 companies with a combined enterprise value of around 13 billion. In September, the firm announced that it had appointed Petri Myllyneva to take over the running of its Finnish operations.