Broodstock Capital has acquired 80 percent of Therma Industri AS, one of Norway’s top suppliers of refrigerant and energy systems for industrial purposes, including for use in the aquaculture industry.
The investment firm, which is focused on Scandinavian small- and medium-sized seafood businesses, purchased the shares from fellow investment firm Eagle AS, which bought control of the company in 1997. Eagle will remain a minority shareholder. Details of the deal were not publicly disclosed.
“We will invest heavily in product development and facilitate increased sharing of best practice between the group’s various departments and subsidiaries. We will also consider bolt-on technology acquisitions that could further strengthen Therma’s product portfolio,” Broostock Capital Partner Simen Landmark said in a press release. “Furthermore, we recognize that Therma’s solid competence within refrigeration and energy systems has great potential internationally.”
Oslo, Norway-based Therma Industri, which has 70 employees, also operates regional offices in Alesund, Fauske, and Tromsø. The company also owns majority interests in subsidiary companies Karstensen Kuldeteknikk, Therma Industri Stavanger AS, Therma Bergen AS, and Therma Automasjon AS. The company recorded revenue in excess of NOK 200 million (USD 21.8 million, EUR 19.8 million) and profit before tax of NOK 12 million (USD 1.3 million, EUR 1.2 million) in 2018. In its release, the company said its 2019 results “are expected to be slightly better than last year’s.”
The Therma group provides industrial heating and refrigerant systems to the food industry, and increasingly to land-based fish-farming operations, using natural refrigerants including ammonia and CO2, the company said. Broostock Capital said these natural refrigerants are becoming “the preferred technology for industry players concerned with environmentally friendly cooling.”
“Ammonia and CO2 are natural refrigerants with no global warming effect or negative effect on the ozone layer, which translates to significantly lower energy consumption – and thereby lower operating costs – compared to competing refrigeration technologies,” it said.
Demand for refrigerating solutions using Co2 and ammonia is expected to rise as the result of international agreements aimed at phasing out the use of synthetic refrigerants, Broodstock Capital Partner Håkon Aglen Fredriksen said.
“The demand for more efficient and sustainable energy solutions based on natural refrigerants is growing, within industry in general and the seafood sector specifically. This entails a shift in technology that requires the niche competence and longstanding delivery expertise we have found in Therma,” Fredriksen said.
Fredriksen said rising seafood production and consumption means “more refrigeration is required.”
“That was our starting point when aiming to identify the best company within this niche. It is also spot-on considering our focus on sustainability,” he said.
Eagle AS Owner and CEO Pål Myklebust said his decision to sell a majority stake in Therma Industri was not a forced issue, but rather a choice to find a partner with seafood industry knowledge and connections to increase the growth of the company.
“The Therma group has demonstrated solid development over several years, so we did not have to reduce our ownership. But given that we see significant growth opportunities in the seafood industry, which is a sector that Broodstock Capital knows better than most, we believe it will be a positive for us,” Myklebust said. “The employees and Therma’s customers to bring such a financially solid and knowledgeable player in as a key shareholder.”
Photo courtesy of Therma Industries AS
