Houlihan Lokey Advises Foxway

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Foxway, a leading provider of circular IT services and portfolio company of Norvestor, has entered into a partnership with Nordic Capital. The terms of the deal are undisclosed. The transaction was completed on 5 October 2023.

Foxway is a fast-growing European company based in Sweden, with offices in Europe, Asia, and the US. By providing circular IT services in more than 100 countries, Foxway has supported its customers to make sustainability an integral part of its businesses. Foxway helps its customers increase efficiency and business success and reduce their tech footprint by recovering and remarketing IT devices and providing the infrastructure necessary to ensure a sustainable lifecycle. With circularity inherent to the business model, Foxway sources, finances, and refurbishes more than 1.5 million devices annually in the circular flow, avoiding 120,948 tonnes of CO₂ emissions in 2022. The investment is expected to further accelerate Foxway’s growth to meet increasing sustainability demands.

Foxway is uniquely positioned to benefit from secular tailwinds of increasing sustainability demands from customers, digitalisation trends, and the increasing economies of scale to drive growth and make a lasting positive impact. Several recent high-profile customer partnerships, together with acquisitions completed in Spain, Germany, and the UK, reinforce Nordic Capital’s belief in Foxway’s business model and long-term strategy.

Nordic Capital and Norvestor will, in partnership with the company’s founders and management, support Foxway’s continued successful trajectory. Nordic Capital has more than 30 years of experience in accelerating the growth of innovative international companies, and the partnership with Foxway fits well with its focus on backing growth companies with circular business models.

Martin Backman, CEO of Foxway, said: “We are pleased to have Nordic Capital as a new partner on our journey. We are immensely proud of the team at Foxway and how we have built a European leader in circular IT. With new valuable international experience and expertise, I am confident that this will enable us to support more clients on a global scale to incorporate a more sustainable profile in their businesses. With our leading in-house refurbishment centre, Foxway is leading the industry into a more sustainable era and enabling the complete ecosystem of circular services.”

Joakim Andreasson, Managing Director of Nordic Capital, said: “We are impressed with the development of Foxway, becoming a leader in its sector with significant opportunities. Nordic Capital has deep experience in the circularity space from similar current investments and looks to leverage its sector knowledge and operational experience to help realise Foxway’s full potential as a truly global circular IT lifecycle management company. With a focus on M&A, expansion, and further investments in operational excellence, Foxway will be able to help accelerate an industry-wide sustainable transformation.”

Henning Vold, Partner of Norvestor, commented: “It has been a pleasure working with Martin and the team since 2019, driving the shift towards circular and sustainable business models in the IT services space. We welcome Nordic Capital as the new majority owner and partner and believe their strong track record of partnerships with companies focusing on sustainable growth and international expansion is an optimal fit for the company. We look forward to continuing to support Foxway in its next growth phase.”

Houlihan Lokey has previously advised the founders of Foxway on the partnership with Norvestor and played a major role in the initiated buy-and-build strategy. This transaction marks the tenth deal the Houlihan Lokey Circular team has advised Foxway or its shareholders on since 2018.

Houlihan Lokey acted as the exclusive sellside advisor to Foxway and its shareholders on the sale to Nordic Capital and assisted in marketing, structuring, and negotiating the transaction, as well as performing lender education on behalf of the shareholders. The close collaboration with the capital markets team facilitated strong and comprehensive non-binding offers and provided prospective buyers with an indication of the financing options early in the process. This transaction marks another essential milestone in Houlihan Lokey's circular economy expertise, strengthening its strong positioning as the leading M&A advisor in the space.

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