CapMan Press Release 4 January 2011 2.30 p.m. EET
CapMan to invest in Eastway
The CapMan Buyout IX fund has agreed to acquire a majority holding in Eastway, Finland’s leading audiovisual equipment rental company and full-service organiser of corporate and public events. Eastway’s founders, Juha Hytti and Jyrki Hytti, will continue as significant shareholders and have an active role in further developing the company. CapMan intends to grow Eastway through acquisitions and to provide additional resources to accelerate Eastway’s organic growth plans.
Eastway was founded in 1986 and it plays a key role in the production and organisation of over 2,000 events a year today. The company had net sales of approximately EUR 23 million in the 2009/2010 financial year.
Working together with Juha Hytti and Jyrki Hytti, and the company’s other management, CapMan’s goal is to develop Eastway into a strong player with a unique set of technological, planning, production, and organisational capabilities on the Nordic level.
“We see the AV technology rental and events markets as having strong underlying growth potential overall and believe that Eastway is very well-placed to benefit from this and participate in consolidation in the field,” says CapMan Senior Partner Olli Liitola. “The company has been well-managed and its staff include some of the best professionals in the business.”
“CapMan’s investment will strengthen the company’s capital structure and make it possible to develop growth plans for which we haven’t had the resources until now. Consolidation and the number of private equity investments have increased in the industry in Europe, and the transaction announced today represents a significant development for the AV technology rental and events sectors in Finland,” says Eastway’s Managing Director, Juha Hytti.
CapMan is a significant investor in the CapMan Buyout IX fund, which is making the investment. The closing of the transaction will be subject to the approval of the competition authorities and is expected to take place in February 2011.
Further information:
Olli Liitola, Senior Partner, CapMan Buyout, tel. +358 (0)400 605 040
Juha Hytti, Managing Director, Eastway Sound & Lighting Oy, tel. +358 (0)400 408 423
CapMan www.capman.com
CapMan is one of the leading alternative asset managers in the Nordic countries and Russia and manages private equity funds with approximately EUR 3.6 billion in total capital. CapMan has six investment areas (CapMan Buyout, CapMan Technology, CapMan Life Science, CapMan Russia, CapMan Public Market and CapMan Real Estate), and each of them has a dedicated team and funds. Altogether CapMan employs approximately 150 people in Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Moscow and Luxembourg. CapMan was established in 1989 and its B shares are listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange since 2001.
Eastway www.eastway.fi
Eastway is Finland’s biggest audio visual equipment rental company and full-service organiser of corporate and public events as well as a leading independent concert promoter. The company’s service offering covers everything from planning to production and the company is the only one-stop-shop in its field in Finland. The operations centres in Espoo and Turku combined with a network of subcontractors and cooperation partners that spans the whole of Europe guarantee Eastway access to an impressive range of resources and facilities both in Finland and abroad. Eastway’s subsidiaridies Menolippu Oy, Dex-Viihde Oy and Melodia Oy provide ticket sales and programme agency services.
