Nordic Capital-backed NOBA lists successfully on Nasdaq Stockholm

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Nordic Capital* builds on its history of supporting its portfolio companies and their transition to public markets, most recently with the successful listing of NOBA. NOBA, a leading specialist bank in Europe operating under three brands: Nordax Bank, Bank Norwegian and Svensk Hypotekspension, today announced the outcome of its initial public offering on Nasdaq Stockholm. The offering was oversubscribed several times, attracting strong interest from large Swedish and international institutional investors as well as the general public in Sweden and Denmark. The market capitalisation of NOBA, based on the IPO price of SEK 70 per share, is approximately SEK 35 billion.

For full information about NOBA and the offering, please see https://www.noba.bank/investor-relations/ipo

In 2018, NOBA was taken private by Nordic Capital, together with co-owner Sampo, with the ambition to transform a monoline lender into one of Europe’s leading specialist banks. During these years, NOBA has undergone an extensive transformation. NOBA has invested in a comprehensive upgrade of its technology platform, completed and integrated two significant strategic acquisitions, including Bank Norwegian, broadened its offering and further scaled its operations. NOBA has invested more than SEK 500 million in its technology platform over the last six years to establish and operate with one unified core banking platform across all products and markets, resulting in an improved cost efficiency as evidenced by its low cost/income ratio. Through this transformation, NOBA has expanded its customer base more than tenfold and increased its loan book ninefold to SEK 128 billion. In parallel, revenues and profits have surged, driven by the scalable digital infrastructure, refined customer offering and disciplined underwriting capabilities.

As part of NOBA’s sustainable and responsible customer proposition, NOBA is committed to financial education and other sustainability initiatives, earning a C-rating by ISS ESG, positioning NOBA in the top tier among European specialist banks. Today, NOBA serves over two million customers across Europe, with consistently high customer satisfaction and a strong profitability track record, reporting a profit every quarter since inception. NOBA sees substantial growth opportunities within its existing markets as well as through continued rollout of secured offerings across the Nordics and expansion into corporate banking for SMEs.

NOBA marks the 23rd IPO supported by Nordic Capital since its inception in 1989. Over the past two decades, Nordic Capital-backed IPOs have generally delivered strong results, significantly outperforming the broader market on a cumulative basis. This success is also evident in operational performance: within two years of listing, Nordic Capital-backed portfolio companies have achieved a median net sales increase of 20 percent and a median EBITDA growth of 37 percent.

NOBA is a prime example of Nordic Capital’s strategy to seek to build strong companies with durable competitive advantages and support them in their transition to public markets.

“NOBA is a fantastic Company with a clear strategy and a strong position following a successful transformation in recent years. Together with Sampo, Nordic Capital has supported a comprehensive upgrade of NOBA’s technology platform, a broader product offering and the integration of several strategic acquisitions. Nordic Capital looks forward to continuing to support the Company as an active and long-term shareholder,” said Christopher Ekdahl, Partner, Nordic Capital Advisors, and Board Member, NOBA.

“Today's listing marks a major milestone on our journey — and the beginning of an exciting new chapter. I want to sincerely thank everyone who made this possible: my fantastic colleagues, the Board, our supportive owners who made the transformation possible, and not least, our customers. Together, we've built NOBA into one of the leading specialist banks in Europe. We're proud of the trust investors have placed in us and look forward to continuing our growth as a public company, enabling financial health for more people,” said Jacob Lundblad, CEO of NOBA.

“The interest in acquiring shares in NOBA has exceeded our expectations, and we are very grateful for the profound trust that both private investors and institutions have shown us. This confirms the strength of our business model and our ability to create long-term value through responsible, efficient and profitable growth,” said Hans-Ole Jochumsen, Chairman of NOBA’s Board of Directors.

Nordic Capital is an experienced private equity investor in Financial Services in Europe, focusing on segments which it believes are fast growing with strong underlying fundamentals such as Savings and Wealth Management, P&C Insurance, Banking & Lending, and Tech-Enabled Service Providers. Since 2012, Nordic Capital has completed 14 transactions within Financial Services and has deployed EUR 3.7 billion of equity capital in the sector to date. The current Financial Services portfolio generates EUR 2.5 billion of revenues and employs over 6,200 people. Nordic Capital has achieved success in this sector to date, having developed thriving companies including Max Matthiessen, Nordnet, NOBA, RiskPoint and Qred.

Press contacts

Katarina Janerud
Communications Manager, Nordic Capital Advisors
+46 8 440 50 50
katarina.janerud@nordiccapital.com

About Nordic Capital
Nordic Capital is a leading international private equity investor and sub-sector specialist dedicated to building stronger, more sustainable businesses through operational improvement and transformative long-term growth in partnership with management teams. With over 35 years of experience, a global reach, and the local presence of dedicated sector investment advisory teams in Sweden, UK, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland and the US, Nordic Capital brings deep expertise across its core investment sectors: Healthcare, Technology & Payments, Financial Services and Services & Industrial Tech. Leveraging tailored playbooks, a dedicated operations advisory team and a global network of industrial and functional experts, Nordic Capital seeks to help companies to scale, innovate and become sustainable leaders. Nordic Capital currently manages around EUR 34 billion in assets and since its founding in 1989, has invested approximately EUR 30 billion in more than 150 middle-market companies in Northern Europe and North America. The committed capital is principally provided by global institutional investors such as pension funds. For more information, see www.nordiccapital.com or connect via LinkedIn.

“Nordic Capital” refers to, depending on the context, any, or all, Nordic Capital branded entities, vehicles, structures, and associated entities. The general partners and/or delegated portfolio managers of Nordic Capital’s entities and vehicles are advised by several non-discretionary sub-advisory entities, any or all of which are referred to as “Nordic Capital Advisors”.

Important information
This announcement is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy any securities of NOBA Bank Group AB (publ) (the “Company”). The information contained in this announcement is for background purposes only and does not purport to be full or complete. No reliance may be placed by any person for any purpose on the information contained in this announcement or its accuracy, fairness or completeness.

Any offering of the securities referred to in this announcement is only made by means of a prospectus. This announcement is not a prospectus for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on the prospectus to be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market, and repealing Directive 2003/71/EC (together with any related implementing and delegated regulations, the “Prospectus Regulation”). Investors should not invest in any securities referred to in this announcement except on the basis of information contained in the aforementioned prospectus.

This announcement and this offering are only addressed to and are only directed at persons in any member state of the EEA, with the exception of Sweden and Denmark, and the United Kingdom (each a “Relevant State”) who are “Qualified Investors” within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation or the Prospectus Regulation made part of United Kingdom law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as applicable. The securities are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe for, purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be directed at, Qualified Investors in the Relevant State. Persons who are not Qualified Investors may not rely or refer to this announcement in any Relevant State.

This announcement is not being made, and may not be distributed in or into, the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan or any other jurisdiction where such distribution would be unlawful or require registration or any other measures.

This announcement and the information contained herein are not for distribution in or into the United States. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell securities in the United States. Any securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the “U.S. Securities Act”) and may not be offered or sold within the United States without registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act and in accordance with applicable securities laws of the states of the United States. No public offering of securities is being made in the United States.

Furthermore, the securities mentioned in this press release have not been registered and will not be registered under any applicable securities law in Canada, Australia or Japan, and may, with certain exceptions, not be offered or sold to or within, or on behalf of a person or for the benefit of a person who is registered, resident or located in, these countries. The Company does not intend to make an offer to the public to acquire the securities mentioned in this press release other than in Sweden and Denmark.

This announcement does not constitute an offer of securities to the public in the United Kingdom. No prospectus has been or will be registered in the United Kingdom in respect of the securities. In the United Kingdom, this document and any other materials in relation to the securities described herein is only being distributed to, and is only directed at, and any investment or investment activity to which this document relates is available only to, and will be engaged in only with, qualified investors (as defined in the Prospectus Regulation as it forms part of domestic law in the United Kingdom by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018) and who are (i) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the “Order”) or (ii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom this announcement may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as “Relevant Persons”). This announcement must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not Relevant Persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this announcement relates is available only to Relevant Persons and will be engaged in only with Relevant Persons. Persons distributing this announcement must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so.

This announcement does not identify or suggest, or purport to identify or suggest, the risks (direct or indirect) that may be associated with an investment in the shares of the Company. Any investment decision to acquire or subscribe for shares in connection with the offering must be made on the basis of all publicly available information relating to the Company and the Company’s shares.

Matters discussed in this announcement may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and may be identified by words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intends,” “estimate,” “will,” “may,” “continue”, “should” and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. Although the Company believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond its control. Such risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in this release by such forward-looking statements. The information, opinions and forward-looking statements contained in this announcement speak only as at its date and are subject to change without notice. The Company does not undertake any obligation to review, update, confirm or release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that arise in relation to the content of this communication.

*The shares are owned and were offered by Cidron Xingu S.à r.l. and Cidron Humber S.à r.l., each a company controlled by Nordic Capital.