Cloud services are growing fast, and Finland is known as one of the most rapidly growing cloud service markets. At the end of March, a well-established Swedish private equity company, Ratos, announced that they had acquired the majority (72%) of Finnish cloud service provider Nebula’s shares for approximately EUR 35 million.
— We wanted to invest in Nebula as we considered it to be an exciting company: growing fast and with a strong market position in their sector, which – due to an increased need for better and more secure data storage and transmission – is expanding rapidly,explains Emma Rheborg, Head of Corporate Communications and IR at Ratos.
Currently employing over 100 people, serving about 34 000 customers and netting total sales of more than EUR 24 million, Nebula is a market-leading provider of cloud services, IT infrastructure and network services to small and medium-sized Finnish companies. With three data centres in Finland, one in London and one in Singapore, Nebula also has its own leased fibre network extending between Finland’s largest cities.
According to a recent report by the Ministry of Transport and Communications on Finnish cloud services, the cloud service sector is predicted to increase at an annual rate of more than 40% between 2012 and 2014.
— Cloud services are expanding since today’s companies call for 100% secure, flexible and highly accessible storage for their data. Besides, companies have awoken to the improved efficiency and financial savings that outsourcing their IT environment brings, Rheborg continues.
Contributing to Nebula’s new growth
With its Nordic investment scope, Ratos invests in companies with good growth prospects. According to Rheborg, they are now striving to facilitate further growth in Nebula, which she thinks will also mean creating more jobs in the Greater Helsinki area.
— Nebula has good profitability, effective customer relations and an attractive business model, so it was easy for us to see huge growth potential for the already very well run Nebula, both in Finland and perhaps in other markets as well.
Prior to acquiring Nebula, Ratos has gathered experience from the Finnish business environment through its Finnish holdings in Finnkino and GS-Hydro. The company also has a Finnish Advisory Board consisting of people with many years of industry experience who – together with some Ratos employees – contribute with knowledge of local business life and through their individual networks.
— Also Nebula’s highly competent management enables us to benefit from their expertise by allowing us to gain a deeper insight into the industry and by broadening our network, which is valuable for us. In turn, our business development skills will be of value to Nebula, concludes Rheborg.
Founded in 1933, Ratos AB is a Swedish Nasdaq-listed private equity conglomerate with a market capitalisation amounting to approximately SEK 20 billion. The company aims at maximising shareholder value over time through the professional, active and responsible exercise of its ownership role in primarily medium to large unlisted Nordic companies.
Article is published in cooperation with Good News from Finland.
