Sale of Puuilo Oy to Sentica Partners Equity Fund III

Puuilo, founded in 1982, was a family business which had grown into a mid-size DIY retail chain. At the time, Puuilo had 10 retail stores and a webshop with 35 M€ revenue and about 3,0 M€ EBITDA. Company sells hardware store products and products and equipment related to housing and construction. The Company’s product offering consists mainly of tools and building products (60-70 % of turnover) as well as household goods (30-40 % of turnover).

Our main value creation components were:

• Initiation of the process
• The goal was to reach the optimal company valuation and company structure by widening the ownership base within the family, while at the same time reducing the family ownership and transferring majority of the ownership to the new owner
• We prepared the company valuation, the structure of the deal, the Information Memorandum and devised the business plan together with the company management
• Assisting in deal structuring and negotiations around SHA commercial terms regarding the seller’s commitment (bad leaver / good leaver, work obligation etc.)

After the transaction was completed, the Newco ownership was divided in the following way: Sentica Equity Fund III 55 %, old owners 25 % and new owners consisting management and employee members 20 %.

Sentica Partners

Sentica Partners had 300 M€ assets under management. Sentica is an independent private equity company focusing on investing in and developing small and mid-sized companies with a Finnish origin. Sentica makes controlling stake investments in Finnish companies operating in various industries with sales typically in a range of EUR 10-100 million.