Verdane acquires Danish wind power assets

Verdane Capital, a Norwegian private equity firm, has picked up a portfolio of three Danish wind power companies, marking the 11th deal from its latest direct secondaries fund.

Oslo-headquartered Verdane used its Verdane Capital VIII vehicle to acquire JSB Group, Jupiter Group and Polytech from Pentaco Partners, a Danish investment firm, for an undisclosed sum, according to a statement. All three assets produce components for wind turbines.

“Verdane Capital has experience within this sector and will be able to contribute with strong competence to drive further global expansion in all three companies,” Thomas Bechmann, a partner at Pentaco, said in the statement. Verdane will continue to develop the firms overseas as well as in Denmark where the management, product development and advanced production is based, he said.

Verdane’s typical holding period is four to five years, and the three assets will be well positioned for trade exits, IPOs or sales to a private equity firm, Pal Malmros, a partner at the firm, told Secondaries Investor.

Verdane is also planning to establish a Copenhagen office, Malmros said.

Verdane VIII is a 2014-vintage 2 billion SKr ($240 million; €214 million) vehicle that focuses on Nordic technology, media and telecommunications secondaries investments, according to PEI Research & Analytics. In February, Verdane used the same vehicle to acquire five assets from investment firm Sequent Invest in a deal worth around 300 million SKr in enterprise value.

The firm manages four active funds with around €700 million in committed capital and has undertaken 27 portfolio deals as well as several direct investments since 2003.