Swedish industrial trading group Liljedahlsbolagen has bought the Elektrokoppar Group, a European manufacturer of copper wire rod and winding wire.

Swedish industrial trading group Liljedahlsbolagen has bought the Elektrokoppar Group, a European manufacturer of copper wire rod and winding wire.

The group was sold for an undisclosed sum by The Industri Kapital 1997 Fund, a European private equity fund with Nordic roots.

Liljedahlsbolagen’s chief executive, Bengt Liljedahl, said: “Our goal with the acquisition of Elektrokoppar is to continue developing the group’s market position through organic growth as well as through further acquisitions.”

Industri Kapital partner Gerard De Geer said: “During Industri Kapital’s ownership the company has strengthened its position, especially on the fast growing Eastern European markets. The timing is good for Elektrokoppar to continue to build on these successes with an industrial owner such as Liljedahlsbolagen.”

Under Industri Kapital’s ownership, Elektrokoppar expanded its product line to include oxygen-free wire rod and also developed various niche products. Two years ago it moved into the fast growing Eastern European markets after buying EKS Slaska in Poland.

Industri Kapital received financial advice on the disposal from Carnegie Investment Bank and Nordlander & Roos Fondkommission, led by Carl Nordlander, who was assisted by Erland Roos and Claes Hain.

Nordlander said the firm initiated and supported the vendor’s contact with the buyer. The initial instruction was to find a buyer to one of the two divisions, but the buyer turned out to be interested in the company as a whole.

Elektrokoppar, which is based in Helsingborg, has two main product areas, wire rod and winding wire. The group, which has around 600 employees, has manufacturing sites in Sweden, Germany, Poland and China refining some 200,000 tons of copper and aluminium each year.

Its customers are mainly manufacturers of transformers, engines, generators, white goods and vehicles. Last year Elektrokoppar generated a SEK8 billion (£573.3 million) turnover.

Industri Kapital has some £2.7 billion under management and since 1989 it has bought 64 companies in Europe. It invests mainly in mid-sized companies with strong cash flow and profit improvement potential, operating in mature industries with fundamental underlying growth. Its current portfolio comprises 24 companies with a total turnover of some euro8.6 billion (£5.8 billion).