03 Apr 13
Ratos and Litorina, which together own all the shares in BTJ Group, have concluded an agreement on transfer of all the shares in the company to Per Samuelson, Chairman of the Board of BTJ Group, or to an acquisition company controlled by Per Samuelson.
BTJ Group is a supplier of media products and information services, primarily to libraries in Sweden and Finland. In 2003 Litorina acquired 75% of the shares in Bibliotekstjänst (”BTJ”) from Swedish Library Association ("SLA”) and KF. BTJ acquired InfoData from Schlumberger in 2004 in a transaction initiated and managed by Litorina, and the group BTJ InfoData was formed. The acquisition was partly financed through a directed share issue to Ratos, which thereafter became the group's main owner besides Litorina.
In 2005, the owners of BTJ InfoData decided, after having realised the synergies that existed between InfoData and BTJ Nordic, to break up the group into InfoData and BTJ Nordic. Thereafter InfoData merged with Bonnier Business Information and formed Bisnode. Litorina sold its holding in InfoData to Ratos in connection with the creation of Bisnode.
”The sale of the remaining shares in BTJ today mark an end of a long engagement which in total has given our investors a very favorable return.” – Harold Kaiser, Partner at Litorina Capital Advisors, investment advisor to Litorina IV.
For more information, please contact:
Harold Kaiser, +46-8-543800, Partner, Litorina Capital Advisors AB
Litorina, founded in 1998, is a private equity firm that focuses on acquiring and industrially developing primarily Swedish companies together with their management. Litorina offers broad and deep expertise both via its own organization and through its network of industrial advisors. Litorina Capital Advisors AB serves as an investment advisor to Litorina IV LP. Litorina is backed by a number of reputable institutions that have jointly invested approximately SEK 4.8 billion in Litorina's four funds. For more information, please visit www.litorina.se.