Press Releases - Volue
Arendals Fossekompani, Advent and Generation offer to buy all shares in the listed technology company Volue
An investor group consisting of Arendals Fossekompani, Advent International and Generation Investment Management has today announced that they intend to buy all shares in the listed technology company Volue. According to a stock exchange announcement, current Volue shareholders will be offered NOK 42 per share. This is 51 percent more than the stock was trading at before the weekend.
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The stock exchange announcement is available here.
Arendals Fossekompani is currently Volue's largest shareholder with a 60 percent stake. When the planned transactions have been completed, its ownership interest will be reduced to approximately 40 percent. This means that Arendals Fossekompani is the largest seller in the transaction, divesting a significant portion of its shares. When the transactions have been completed, Advent and Generation will own approximately 43 per cent and 17 per cent respectively through an investment company jointly owned with Arendals Fossekompani.
"Arendals Fossekompani, Advent and Generation have joined forces in a unique and long-term partnership to support Volue as owners and contribute to the company achieving its ambitious goals," says Benjamin Golding, CEO of Arendals Fossekompani.
Volue is a supplier of advanced, digital solutions to, among others, power producers and grid companies. The company is well positioned for further growth, both organically and through acquisitions.
Owners in a powerful partnership
"With the planned transactions, Volue will be owned by a powerful group of owners that will accelerate Volue’s further growth. It has been good for Volue to be listed on the stock exchange. However, we believe the strong and resourceful partnership we have now put together will be able to contribute significantly to fueling the next step of Volue’s journey," says Golding.
Douglas Hallstrom, Director at Advent International, comments: “We have been following Volue for some time given its strong visibility and prominence in the market. Advent has been investing in the tech sector for over 30 years, and we have been really impressed by Volue and its achievements. As the Company now enters a new growth phase, we believe that a private ownership setting would best enable the company to seize the market opportunity while also addressing the challenges ahead.”
Dave Easton, Growth Equity Partner at Generation Investment Management, comments: “The renewable energy transition requires best-in-class software to enable a more flexible, dynamic, and digitised energy system. As a market leader in energy software and services, we believe Volue is well positioned to be a crucial player enabling this urgent shift. Together with the team at Volue, this partnership brings together a unique combination of software, sustainability, and finance skills to support the Company’s potential and accelerate its contribution to the vital renewable energy transition.”
Attractive offer
According to the stock exchange announcement, current Volue shareholders will be offered NOK 42 per share. This is 51 per cent more than the share was traded for before the weekend and 50 per cent more than the volume-weighted average price over the past six months. The offer will be made by a new company jointly owned by Arendals Fossekompani, Advent and Generation.
"We hope that today's Volue shareholders will consider this an attractive offer. They will free up liquidity at an attractive premium, which enables them to take part in future value creation now," says Golding.
Arendals Fossekompani and several other prominent shareholders have already committed to accept the offer. The formal offer document is subject to approval by Oslo Stock Exchange and will probably not be ready until August. It will then be sent to Volue’s shareholders.
In a separate announcement, the Volue Board of Directors has today confirmed that it will make a statement regarding the offer, as defined in the Securities Trading Act. Board members who are affiliated with Arendals Fossekompani do not participate in the board's consideration of this matter.
Volue's customers and employees will not be affected by the contemplated transaction. The company will continue to operate with the same management, organization, and operations as today, but with new owners in place, the company's plans for development and growth will gain further momentum.
The stock exchange announcement is available here.