Partners Group is investing an undisclosed sum to buy Finnish modular buildings company Parmaco.
The private markets investment manager said it has agreed to buy the provider of modular education buildings from a consortium led by European private equity firms Terra Firma and Metric Capital.
Established in 1966, Parmaco designs, builds and leases fully assembled and ready-to-use wooden modular buildings that are used as schools and daycare centres in Finland and Sweden. Parmaco has 353 modular buildings with a total leasable area of 280,000sqm.
Partners Group said it will work with Parmaco’s management team to build on the platform’s position in the educational building market in Finland and transform it into a leading pan-Nordic modular buildings provider.
”Key value creation initiatives include expanding into adjacent market segments for modular solutions, such as elderly care and student housing, and ancillary services” Partners Group said.
Livio Fenati, managing director, co-head of private infrastructure Europe at Partners Group, said: “Parmaco is a great business with strong infrastructure characteristics. With its distinctive circular economy model, based on flexible and reusable modules, Parmaco provides essential infrastructure for the education sector with cost-effective and low environmental impact solutions.
“The platform is also benefiting from favourable macro trends, as identified by our research into the new living’ giga theme, in which changing habitation and population trends are impacting the education sector.
“As well as having significant growth potential in Nordic countries, the platform also offers the opportunity to have positive stakeholder impact on children, local communities and the environment, which is key for us.”
Sami Laine, Parmaco’s CEO, said: “Parmaco has seen rapid growth in recent years, driven by structural market changes and the platform’s competitive advantage in Finland.
“Given its international reach and extensive experience executing the build-out of infrastructure platforms, we believe Partners Group is the right transformational partner for us as we look towards our next phase of growth and expansion into other Nordic markets.”
Florian Trapp, member of management, private infrastructure Europe at Partners Group, said: “Parmaco is a platform expansion opportunity in line with our infrastructure investment strategy.
“The platform has a solid market base in Finland and is well-positioned to expand into neighbouring countries, where the premium modular housing market is still highly fragmented.”
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