PRINT THIS PAGE Industri Kapital buys Norwegian wholesaler and two discount retail firms16/08/2004. Source: AltAssets. 
 Nordic buy-out firm Industri Kapital has bought Norwegian wholesaler Terje Hoili and the franchise rights to discount retail chains Europris and Max 20. IK will hold 80 per cent of the assets when the three units are integrated into newly-named Ekstrem Lavpris and the current owners will retain a 20 per cent stake.
The transaction is understood to have an enteprise value of around E300m.
Europris currently has 128 stores with sales of approximately NOK 2.0 billion (€265 million) in 2003, while Max 20 has 54 stores (vs 33 at year-end) with sales of approximately NOK 140 million (€17 million) in 2003. The stores provide a broad offering of hard discount grocery and non-food products.
Trygve Grindheim, who led the deal for IK, attributed the attractiveness of the deal to the growth potential of Norway's discount retail market. 'Both Europris and Max 20 have experienced strong growth in the past and currently hold unique positions in the Norwegian market…We believe that Europris has the long term potential to increase the number of outlets to 200 and Max 20 to 100,' he said.
IK is currently trying to raise a new buy-out fund. The original target when the fund was launched in 2002 was E2.5bn but it has subsequently been revised down to around E1.5bn. The firm held a first close of E500m in the fourth quarter of 2003.
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