Procuritas Capital Investors IV acquires King Oscar AS
Press Release, Guernsey/Stockholm
PCI IV acquires King Oscar AS, a Norwegian global supplier of canned seafood.
The acquisition takes place through an international consortium led by PCI IV.
“We are very excited about this opportunity. King Oscar Brisling Sardines is a leading canned seafood product and represent a more than a century old global brand. We believe there is room to grow King Oscar both in its Brisling Sardine products and other more recent canned seafood product lines. These are convenient and very healthy quality products. The company has successfully trimmed its cost base in recent years; now it is the time to give more attention to growth” said Erik Fougner, partner at Procuritas Partners GmbH.
King Oscar CEO Geir Arne Åsnes and the management team are positive to the sale of King Oscar. “Together with our new owner Procuritas we will be able to take the company further”, said Geir Arne Åsnes. “When Rieber & Søn announced its strategy program “Our Future” in 2009 it quickly became clear that King Oscar would not be part of the group’s core business. There were limited synergies with the rest of the group. A sale was therefore the natural way for Rieber & Søn to go” said Geir Arne.
“The canned seafood business is a mature business, where industry restructuring has taken place in many regions of the world; we believe this opportunity also exists in Northern Europe and makes sense from a strategic perspective. Together with King Oscar’s management we have analyzed a number of opportunities and we look forward to taking these further” said Tomas Johansson, Partner at Procuritas AB.
About King Oscar A/S
King Oscar is a company built upon rich Norwegian seafood heritage and a legacy of excellence. King Oscar’s history goes back to 1873 when the first brisling sardine canning company was established in Norway. The King Oscar brand is more than 100 years old and dates back to 1902. With great pride, the King Oscar employees are committed to developing and marketing a broad variety of premium quality canned seafood products all around the world. King Oscar AS has currently 2 factories, in Poland (Gniewino) and Norway (Svolvær), and 400 employees. More information about King Oscar can be found on www.kingoscar.com.
About Procuritas
Procuritas Capital Investors IV is a private equity fund focusing on mid-sized companies in the Nordic Region. King Oscar is the sixth investment by PCI IV, and the first in Norway. PCI IV is advised by Procuritas AB and Procuritas Partners GmbH. Procuritas is a Scandinavian private equity house specialized in initiating, structuring, and financing management buyouts. Founded in 1986, the company was the pioneer in introducing the concept of management buyouts in the Nordic region. More information can be found on www.procuritas.com.
For further information, please contact:
Erik Fougner, Partner, Procuritas Partners GmbH, tel. +46 702 66 31 11
Tomas Johansson, Partner, Procuritas AB, tel. +46 733 25 45 02
Geir Arne Åsnes, CEO, King Oscar AS, tel. +47 906 96 983