Munich, Germany — The River­side Company, a global private equity inves­tor focu­sed on the lower middle market, has signed a defi­ni­tive agree­ment to acquire a majo­rity stake in Montel AS (Montel), a Norwe­gian energy and power market infor­ma­tion provi­der owned by its foun­der and manager.

Montel, head­quar­te­red in Oslo, is an inter­na­tio­nal niche market leader provi­ding energy and power market infor­ma­tion to energy produ­cers, grid opera­tors, finan­cial insti­tu­ti­ons, trading compa­nies and indus­trial end users. The company’s services are prima­rily deli­vered through its proprie­tary Montel Online subscrip­­tion-based plat­form and include energy market news and real-time and histo­ri­cal trading data.

Montel provi­des full-service energy infor­ma­tion services and is the only focu­sed provi­der of energy market infor­ma­tion services.

“This acqui­si­tion fits well with our invest­ment stra­tegy. “Montel is a true ’small market leader’ in the energy infor­ma­tion market and we believe the company is perfectly posi­tio­ned to bene­fit from the shift from fossil fuels to rene­wa­ble energy sources in many parts of the economy,” said Kars­ten Langer, Mana­ging Part­ner of River­side Europe. “We are plea­sed to invest along­side the foun­der and manage­ment team, who will remain with the company and conti­nue to play an important role in the company’s growth in the years to come.”

River­side will support Montel’s growth by scaling the orga­niza­tion to further gain share in a growing market, deve­lo­ping new products and services, and driving geogra­phic expan­sion. In addi­tion, the Group will make selec­tive acqui­si­ti­ons to expand its range of analy­ti­cal services.

Montel’s acti­vi­ties are highly aligned with various ESG aspects and the UN Sustainable Deve­lo­p­ment Goals, as its services help compa­nies gain a better under­stan­ding of their energy consump­tion so they can take action to reduce the causes of climate change in the longer term and enable a smooth tran­si­tion to rene­wa­ble energy consumption.

“We are exci­ted to part­ner with River­side in Montel’s next phase of growth,” said Tom Nyblin, CEO of Montel. “In gene­ral, the demand for infor­ma­tion services and analy­sis for the elec­tri­city market is expec­ted to increase shar­ply in the future. By joining forces with River­side, Montel is in a strong posi­tion to capi­ta­lize on these trends.”

Working with Langer on the tran­sac­tion for River­side were Senior Part­ner Dr. Michael Weber, Vice Presi­dent Dan Parksjö, Senior Direc­tor Jeroen Lens­sen, Opera­ting Part­ner Julian Heer­de­gen and Senior Legal Coun­sel Peter Parmen­tier. Prin­ci­pal, Origi­na­tion, Ali Al Alaf broke­red the tran­sac­tion for River­side. — The closing of the tran­sac­tion is subject to custo­mary regu­la­tory approvals.

Consul­tant Riverside:

BAHR, Allen & Overy, Hannes Snell­man Bain & Company, PWC, Deloitte and Code & Co. advi­sed, while the company and its share­hol­ders were advi­sed by Alpha Corpo­rate Finance, Wiers­holm and BDO.

The River­side Company

The River­side Company is a global private equity firm focu­sed on invest­ments in middle-market growth compa­nies valued at up to $400 million. Since its foun­ding in 1988, River­side has made over 870 invest­ments. Riverside’s inter­na­tio­nal private equity and struc­tu­red capi­tal port­fo­lios include over 130 compa­nies. River­side Europe is an inte­gral part of the company’s global network and has been inves­t­ing in Europe since 1989. River­side belie­ves this global presence provi­des excep­tio­nal insight into local condi­ti­ons, culture and busi­ness prac­ti­ces, making the River­side team better inves­tors and busi­ness partners.