MANAMA, 2 July 2007 — Bahrain-based Arcapita Bank, a leading international investment firm headquartered here, has signed a definitive agreement to sell Roxar AS for approximately $370 million to CorrOcean ASA, a publicly traded company based in Norway.
The transaction is expected to close during July.
In a statement issued yesterday, the company said Arcapita and its co-investors acquired Roxar in February 2006 for a transaction value of approximately $216 million.
Roxar provides innovative technology solutions which allow energy companies worldwide to optimize production from oil and gas reservoirs.
Roxar was Arcapita’s first corporate acquisition in the Nordic region and the divestment is Arcapita’s third liquidity event for investors in its European private equity portfolio since the start of 2007, following the recapitalization of Vogica, the French manufacturer and retailer of kitchens and bathrooms, completed in April 2007, and the recapitalization of Paroc, the Finland-based manufacturer of stone wool insulation products, which was completed in June 2007.
Atif A. Abdulmalik, chief executive officer of Arcapita, said: “The divestment from Roxar after a 15 month investment holding period represents an excellent outcome for our investors.”
Roxar is the first exit from our European investment portfolio, and demonstrates our ability to source and manage high quality investment opportunities from Europe for the benefit of our investors.
To date, Arcapita has exited from 13 portfolio investments for a total transaction value in excess of $3.0 billion, generating attractive returns for our investors,” he said.
Mounzer Nasr, Arcapita’s European head of corporate investment, said: “Our European corporate investment portfolio has been progressing very well, and we are pleased to deliver this successful exit for our investors.
Roxar’s management team has delivered solid growth over the last 15 months, which positioned the company as an attractive acquisition target for CorrOcean, a strategic buyer whose business is complementary to Roxar’s.”
