London-based private equity firm Arle Capital Partners, the majority owner of Malmö, Sweden-based Hilding Anders, announced it has successfully refinanced the mattress maker’s 800 million euro debt.
According to a Reuters story, the new financing gives the Swedish company a more stable long-term debt structure, after a failed sale earlier in 2013.
Arrangements include extending Hilding Anders’ near-term loan maturities by three years to December 2017, as well as a 350 million euro investment from KKR Asset Management. The KKR investment is being used to reduce the company’s leverage ratio—a measure of debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization—to 4.8 times. According to Bloomberg.com, the company’s previous leverage ratio was greater than 7 times.
After the refinancing, Arle remains the lead Hilding Anders shareholder.
“Hilding Anders is a company with very significant equity upside, a very experienced management team and a clear road map for value creation,” said Javier Abad, partner at Arle Capital Partners. “This successful refinancing combined with the additional investment from KKR will provide a stable financial footing that will allow the company to capitalize on the growth opportunities in Europe, Russia and Asia.”
Hilding Anders was established in 1939 and has close to 7,000 employees in 40 countries. Since 2003, the company has made 14 acquisitions in Europe and Asia.
