eEquity makes a 10x partial exit in iDeal of Sweden

eEquity, the leading private equity investor in e-commerce and Digital Growth, has today, together with the founders Joachim Lindström and Filip Ummer, made a partial exit of iDeal of Sweden to Altor. The sale of about 60 percent of the company results in a 10x return on invested capital for eEquity.

Joachim Lindström, co-founder and CEO of iDeal of Sweden commented: “We are very pleased to have Altor on board as a new investor and strategic partner to enable our global expansion plans with continued rapid growth over the next five years. We are very impressed with Altor’s team and this investment means that we get a very strong financial partner in addition to the expertise and experience that they also bring to the table, which was the key factor in the decision from our end. It has been invaluable for us to work closely with eEquity as a sector specialist in e-commerce and we have had very close collaborations with their other portfolio companies in many areas; exchanging competence and experience with the “eEquity family” has made it possible for us to grow as fast and as profitability as we have. We are very grateful to be able to continue the successful partnership with eEquity, which reinvests in the company together with us, and together with Altor we achieve a good mix of expertise and financial stability. We are very proud of our development over the past few years, our team has managed to grow the business rapidly with high profitability, while also investing heavily in IT, logistics and building a fantastic organization which today consists of over 100 employees.

Patrik Hedelin, the responsible partner at eEquity, comments: “We are extremely impressed by the entrepreneurs and all employees of iDeal of Sweden and how the company, by investing in new microprocesses in IT, well-defined and data-driven business processes, expanding the product range, implementing a new marketing strategy, and by building a strong management team and organization, have managed to increase revenues from 40 MSEK to a billion SEK – with good profitability – in just three years. When helping our portfolio companies to roll out globally, we often discuss simplicity, scalability and automation with our entrepreneurs, it is very rewarding to see the result of these strategies implemented. We are very happy that the founders came to us because they were looking for our expertise and saw the value of being able to work actively with the other companies in the portfolio; iDeal of Sweden and NA-KD have had a very active collaboration in especially marketing which has been hugely beneficial for both companies”.

iDeal of Sweden is a leading global fashion tech and lifestyle brand specializing in mobile phone accessories. The company was founded in 2013 in Norrköping and was run out of Joachim’s, one of the founders, garage during the first year. The company’s products are sold through approximately 14,000 stores globally, and via own e-commerce in about 140 countries, today. iDeal of Sweden has also started the roll-out of a new store concept and has opened new stores in Mall of Scandinavia and Gallerian last month, the plan is to open about 10 stores at prime locations in Sweden in 2019 and then expand the concept stores internationally. iDeal of Sweden has been a pioneer in its work with influencer marketing and have launched many design collaborations with influencers, which has been a strong success factor also internationally. iDeal of Sweden sells fashion accessories in addition to mobile accessories and has expanded its product portfolio rapidly over the past couple of years.

“It has been a tough journey – we started the company with very limited capital and limited experience. We have really worked around the clock for the past five years and we are incredibly grateful for the trust we have received from our customers, partners and our fantastic team who have made the company’s journey possible ”- comments Joachim Lindström

eEquity provides growth capital to successful entrepreneurs who want to increase the growth rate and build market-leading companies in their respective areas. eEquity has developed its own methodology for building a portfolio of companies that can accelerate growth by being part of the family of eEquity companies with extensive exchange of expertise, experience and implementation of the eEquity toolbox. eEquity invested in many multi-brand retailers, such as Footway which went through an IPO at the end of last year, in the fund eEquity II. Investments in eEquity III have been more focused on product companies that are scaled globally, such as NA-KD and Twistshake. The latest fund that eEquity recently started to invest from, eEquity IV, will be invested in Digital Growth and e-commerce companies.

After completion of the transaction, Altor will own 60% of the company while the founders and eEquity will remain as co-owners with a holding of 40%. The transaction results in a multiple of 10x on the shares sold, including an EBITDA-based additional earn-out, for eEquity. iDeal of Sweden is in the eEquity III fund. eEquity’s new investments are now from eEquity IV, which is a billion fund that had its first closing in November 2018.

https://www.breakit.se/artikel/20558/ideal-of-sweden-saljs-prislappen-nastan-2-miljarder

About eEquity
eEquity was founded in Stockholm in 2010, with the support of international institutional investors, and is today the leading private equity investor in e-commerce and Digital Growth. eEquity was founded by Magnus Wiberg and Patrik Hedelin as a continuation of their entrepreneurial ventures within Digital Growth, which took off in 1999 with boo.com and Pricerunner.

About iDeal of Sweden
iDeal of Sweden was founded in 2013 by Joachim Lindström and Filip Ummer with headquarters in Norrköping. iDeal of Sweden has, with its pioneering and hugely successful influencer marketing strategy, succeeded in establishing itself as a leading lifestyle brand in fashion tech globally.

Stella EOC has been the financial adviser and Osborne Clarke the legal advisor

For more information, contact:
Joachim Lindström
Co-founder and CEO
iDeal of Sweden
joachim@idealofsweden.com
+46 72 3214444

Patrik Hedelin
Managing Partner
eEquity AB
Tel: +46 70 545 2889
E-post: patrik@eequity.se

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