Verdane acquires seven e-commerce companies

Secondary direct fund Verdane Capital VII closes its sixth portfolio transaction and invests in a portfolio of seven e-commerce companies. The companies are acquired from Aggregate Media and B Media Invest in what becomes Verdane funds’ fourth portfolio transaction with e-commerce holdings. The deal further strengthens Verdane funds’ position as the Nordic region’s leading private equity investor in e-commerce.

The portfolio includes companies such as Compricer, a price comparison tool for insurance and mortgages, the petfood website Foderbilen and Reseguiden, a travel website.

Verdane funds have with this transaction invested in over 20 e-commerce firms over the past 6 years. Some of its most notable success stories have been Tradedoubler and Dibs that were sold in 2006 and 2010 respectively. The funds are currently owners of Bythjul, Lenson, Mathem, Outnet and another 10 companies.

“We are seeing a global migration to online markets, with typical growth rates in the EU-countries of between 10% and 30% annually” says Staffan Mörndal, Partner at Verdane Capital Advisors. “We have built considerable experience through Verdane Funds’ investments in the space and the geographic footprint has allowed us to help build a number of local market leaders into strong Nordic players.”

Compricer, that allows customers to compare prices on insurance and other products, is one of the most significant companies in the deal. The online market for insurance is relatively small in Sweden, but it is growing fast and it has large potential. As a point of reference, 70% of all insurance is sold online in the more developed UK market.

“We are extremely happy to see Verdane as new owners in Compricer. They have established themselves as a leading investor in e-commerce and we are convinced that they can help us grow the business further” says Jakob Tolleryd, CEO of Compricer.

The Aggregate Media and B Media Invest deal is Verdane funds’ seventeenth secondary direct transaction.