Summa breaks new ground with €550m secondaries deal

Summa Equity has closed Summa Circular, a €550 million single asset continuation fund for waste management company NG Group, according to a statement.

Summa’s debut fund, the SKr4.7 billion ($453 million; €418 million) Summa Equity Fund I, which closed in 2017, initially acquired the company from Scandinavian private equity house Altor Equity Partners in 2017. The company has performed at between 2x and 3x MOIC over Summa’s five-year ownership, according to affiliate title Secondaries Investor’s first report on the deal in January.

Categorised as dark green under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, the fund is believed to be the first Article 9 continuation vehicle.

“NG Group is by far the largest waste recycling player in Norway, providing an excellent foundation for further growth,” Summa COO and head of investor relations Hannah Gunvor Jacobsen told affiliate title New Private Markets. “We believe that we have owned the company for too short a time to realise its full potential. Consequently, we have raised funds to extend our investment and continue driving the transition toward a circular economy in the Nordics.”

Mid-market manager Quilvest Capital Partners acted as principal lead investor, according to a press release form the firm. Unigestion also participated, alongside existing and new Summa LPs, as well as the NG management team and employees. Summa also invested capital from its third flagship fund, which closed on €2.3 billion in 2022.

“Obviously, we have engaged in discussions with our existing LPs. Additionally, we have talked to new investors, some of whom have been following Summa for a while and expressed interest in investing together with us,” Jacobsen said.

In holding on to the asset, Summa will continue to pursue the buy-and-build strategy it has implemented so far: NG Group has acquired at least four other Norwegian waste management assets since Summa’s initial investment. “Some of the additional money raised will be directed towards sustaining our buy-and-build strategy,” said Jacobsen. “We also plan to scale up various organic initiatives. In addition to continuing the successful work of the past years, we are exploring potentially transformative investments in new technologies.”

Jacobsen said: “We aim to hold the company for approximately five more years.” The vehicle has a seven-year duration, structured as five years with the possibility of a further two.

Impact secondaries are growing as a nascent subsector in the larger secondaries market. Last month, Blue Earth Capital, a Switzerland-based impact firm established by the founders of Partners Group, led a continuation fund transaction involving the transfer of two venture capital assets.