Carel to acquire Norwegian SaaS group
25th July 2023
ITALY: Controls manufacturer Carel is to acquire an 82.4% stake in Kiona Holding AS, a leading Norway-based software as a service provider of property technology solutions.
The acquisition consideration implies a 100% enterprise value of NOK2.35 billion (€210m).
Headquartered in Trondheim, Kiona was formed in 2021, bringing together five top software and digital companies: IWMAC (Norway), Egain (Sweden), Cebyc (Norway), Moldeo (Sweden) and Alpha ECO (Switzerland).
Kiona provides comprehensive SaaS solutions to reduce the environmental footprint of refrigeration systems and buildings through the control and optimisation of energy usage.
Kiona operates through 17 offices across eight countries and employs around 150 people. The company already serves around 57,000 facilities and food retail stores across Europe.
This acquisition, which is one of its largest to date, and the eleventh since Carel’s listing on the Milan stock exchange five years ago.
Carel sees the acquisition as a way to enhance and accelerate the development of its own software and digital services offering. The combination of Kiona’s analytics capabilities with Carel’s IoT platforms and control systems specifically dedicated to HVACR is expected to unlock new opportunities for technological development through a platform dedicated to energy efficiency.
Kiona CEO Trond-Øystein Bjørnnes, the founders, certain key employees and two Norwegian early financial investors will retain the minority stake.
