The acquisition has led to a sharp rise in Soprano’s share on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. The name of the listed company will change to Wetter after the transaction.
Training company Soprano says that it will buy the Oulu car dealership Wetteri Group through a share exchange.
The acquisition will be implemented in such a way that Wetteri will in practice acquire Soprano and be listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. The name of Soprano will change to Wetter in the arrangement, and the company’s business will change to car sales.
In the share exchange, Soprano’s shareholders will account for approximately 14 percent of the new entity. The remaining 86 percent will be owned by Wetter’s majority owner, the CEO Aarne Simula and Chairman of the Board Markku Kankaala and an investor group called Active Owners who will become investors in connection with the arrangement.
In the merger, the value of the shares in Themis Holding, Wetter’s holding company, has been determined to be approximately EUR 54.1 million and that of Soprano approximately EUR 8.8 million.
soprano Chairman of the Board Satu Mehtälä says the arrangement will provide “significant” value to shareholders.
“The Wetteri share exchange gives our shareholders the opportunity to enter a major revolution in the car trade, where the industry is concentrated and large players are taking over the market,” Mehtälä says in a press release.
According to Soprano, the share issue to implement the transaction will “significantly” strengthen its equity and the arrangement will “significantly” improve its results this year. The company will refine its earnings forecast in September – October.
Although the company’s new main business is a car dealership, Sopranon Pauliina Lautanen-Nissi believes that the “vast resources of the new entity will also open up growth opportunities for the company’s training business”.
The arrangement has led to a sharp rise in Soprano’s share on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. The share moved at 3 pm with a 77 percent increase of 0.76 euros. The share has reached its highest level at EUR 1.03.
Wetteri says it is one of the four largest private car dealerships. The company is headquartered in Oulu and has 25 offices in Finland.
Wetter’s turnover last year was EUR 332 million, EBITDA was EUR 8 million and the number of employees was 602.
Soprano is much smaller. Its turnover last year was EUR 11 million, EBITDA was approximately EUR 0.6 million and the number of employees was 80.
“The Wetteri Group is a unique listed company with extensive expertise and good cash flow from the passenger car trade to heavy equipment with stable aftermarket demand,” says the CEO of the Wetteri Group. Aarne Simula.
The business combination is conditional. Its implementation requires due diligence inspections of the companies, the approval of Soprano’s financiers and the Annual General Meeting, and an exemption from the Financial Supervisory Authority.