KKR, a global investor, has announced the signing of three agreements to ultimately acquire a combined 50% stake in Välinge.
Through the agreements, KKR will acquire the two 20% stakes of the current minority owners, Kronospan and Swiss Krono Group, as well as an additional 10% stake from the founder.
“KKR’s excellent global reputation and its expertise in the technology and industrial sectors made it the perfect choice as partner for our business,” said Darko Pervan, founder of Välinge. “This partnership will create a foundation for the company to take the next step in its development, and KKR’s international network together with our joint financial resources will allow us to commercialize Välinge’s technologies faster and on a much larger scale.”
The Pervan family is partnering with KKR to further grow Välinge into a leading R&D and IP provider in its respective business segments, leveraging KKR’s financial resources, its international network and its longstanding expertise in the global industrial sector. KKR has an extensive track record of partnering with entrepreneurs and family-owned companies in Europe to deliver growth, international expansion, and value creation including investments in Walgreens, Boots Alliance, BMG, WILD, Scout24, SoftwareOne and Webhelp.
According to the company, the partnership with KKR will allow Välinge to invest in new technologies in fast growing areas such as luxury vinyl tile (LVT) flooring, tool-less furniture assembly, digital micro 3D printing and wood powder technology. The former minority owners, Kronospan and Swiss Krono Group, will remain major licensees of Välinge’s technology and have played an important role in commercializing Välinge’s earlier technologies related to floor locking.
Välinge draws its roots from the deep Swedish knowledge and expertise in wood technology and the company and its founder have a long track record of developing innovative and disruptive technologies such as laminate flooring, floor locking systems allowing for easy assembly, and the new powder based flooring, Nadura and Woodura. A common thread and guiding principle of all Välinge’s innovations is to develop products that are better performing and at a lower cost with a core focus on benefit to the end user.
The company’s excellence in innovation has been recognized through a number of high-profile awards. Most recently, in September 2015, Välinge received the ‘Export Hermes’ award from the Swedish Fund for Export Development, which rewards Swedish companies that have contributed to Sweden’s economic prosperity through remarkable export achievements. The award was presented to Välinge by Her Majesty the Crown Princess of Sweden. In June 2015, Välinge won the Schweighofer Prize, a prestigious prize that recognizes innovative ideas, technologies, and products in the European wood and forest sector.
For more information, visit valinge.se.
