Verdane Capital Funds close their twentieth Secondary Direct portfolio transaction

Verdane Capital Funds (Verdane) and eEquity are two of the leading Nordic investors in e-commerce. Through this transaction Verdane acquired 15-30% ownership stakes in four e-commerce companies in which eEquity is a shareholder. In conjunction with the transaction, the portfolio companies will also receive additional growth capital, and Verdane Capital Advisors, the investment advisor to Verdane, will gain a board seat position in each of the companies.

Verdane Capital Advisors is one of the prominent investment advisors in e-commerce and the leading advisor in portfolio transactions (i.e., secondary directs) in the Nordics. The transaction is the twentieth portfolio transaction by Verdane in ten years. Through the transaction, Verdane became a shareholder in four companies: WhiteAway, Caliroots, Parelle/Eleven and Royal Design.

eEquity is a leading Swedish investor in e-commerce of goods and services, with stakes in 11 Nordic e-commerce companies. The transaction, in which eEquity divests a portion of their holdings in the target companies, is the fund’s first exit since its inception in 2010. As a secondary direct investor in the Nordics, Verdane acts as a solution provider for owners of portfolios of unlisted assets. In this case, it was efficient for eEquity to sell several partial stakes in their portfolio at once, thereby enabling Verdane to gain access to these particular companies.

WhiteAway is the leading internet retailer of household appliances in the Nordics with an annual turnover of approximately Skr 900m. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Aarhus, Denmark.

Caliroots is a Sweden-based internet retailer of street wear with three physical stores. Founded in 2003, the company has an annual turnover of approximately Skr 100m following its acquisition of andMotion which occurred in connection with the transaction.

Parelle/Eleven is a group of two Swedish companies that merged before the summer. The newly formed company has an annual turnover of approximately Skr 130m and sells beauty products online and in 20 franchise stores across Sweden.

Royal Design is a leading internet retailer of kitchenware, home decor and furnishings. Based in Kalmar, Sweden, the company was founded some 10 years ago and has an annual turnover of approximately Skr 150m.

“We are very pleased that Verdane has invested in these four interesting assets and expanded Verdane’s portfolio of internet retailers to almost 20 holdings,” says Staffan Mörndal, Partner at Verdane Capital Advisors. “Thanks to our experience from working closely with e-commerce companies since 2005, we will be able to propose 100-150 improvement actions to each of these four companies. Verdane always strives to contribute more than just capital to our portfolio companies”.

“We are very happy that Verdane will be a co-owner in these companies and believe that they have a lot to add which will help us build the companies to category leaders in their respective product areas,” says Magnus Wiberg, Partner at eEquity and one of the founders of Pricerunner.