Wilhelm Eklund advised MB Funds, a leading Finnish private equity firm, on its acquisition of Kotkamills, a Finnish forest industry company, from OpenGate Capital, the US based private equity firm, in 2015. The transaction involved a significant (EUR 100+ million) follow-on investment in Kotkamills, financed partly by a EUR 105 million high yield bond issued by the acquiring company.
Wilhelm has subsequently advised MB Funds and the Kotkamills group on a wide range of matters, including a strategic review of Kotkamills’ operations and sale of Kotkamills’ Malaysian operations in 2016 and Kotkamills’ Imprex business in 2017, a corporate reorganization comprising a hive-down of three of the group’s business lines and well as general corporate and commercial matters. Wilhelm has also advised on a wide range of questions in relation to the groups’ equity and debt financing, including the listing of Kotkamills’ high yield bond on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki in 2016, inside information and disclosure matters and obtaining waivers from bondholders in connection with the group’s corporate reorganization and divestments.
Kotkamills is a Finnish forest industry company that delivers renewable products and performance to its customers’ processes via product innovations created from wood, a renewable raw material. One of the key brands of the company is Absorbex®, an innovative laminating paper product for the laminate, plywood and construction industries. Kotkamills also offers sawn timber for demanding joinery and construction. In the summer of 2016, Kotkamills started operating a new board machine producing innovative consumer board products under the AEGLE™ and ISLA™ brands, including the capability to add barriers on-machine. All consumer board material solutions are fully recyclable and repulpable.
Case Reference
Transaction Powerhouse – MB Funds’s acquisition of Kotkamills