Longship divests Ecura to management and Karbon Invest

Ecura is a leading care company delivering critical health and care services to more than 200 municipalities throughout Norway. Ecura reported revenues of NOK 960 million in 2020 and employed about 1,300 employees. The company focuses on building competencies and routines to consistently deliver high-quality services, supported by a well-invested infrastructure, IT platform, in-house employee academy and e-learning.

Ecura originated through the acquisition of Mestrings- og Læringssenteret in 2016 and has since acquired and integrated 9 companies within assisted living and habilitation, home nursing, care services, temporary healthcare staffing, and addiction rehabilitation. The company has a strong track-record of organic growth with a revenue CAGR of 14 percent over the period.

“The management team of Ecura, together with their competent and dedicated employees, have more than delivered on the ambitious strategy set out in 2016. We have enjoyed supporting Ecura through this formative growth journey. Ecura has become a leading care company with strong positions in carefully selected segments, making a difference to end-users, next of kins, and municipalities.”, says Hans Tindlund, partner in Longship.

“We have enjoyed the cooperation with Longship and their support to build a highly reputable health care company on their initiative. Together with Longship we have built a group ten times bigger in five years and achieved strong recognition for the Ecura quality standards. Ecura is the first health care provider in Norway certified according to all four ISO standards within quality, working environment, environment and information security. We are pleased to have Karbon backing management in this buyout, and we are delighted by the support from Jens Rugseth and his team in Karbon who made this transaction possible. With Karbon we have financial strength and knowledge for future growth for Ecura”, says Per Gunnar Borhaug, CEO of Ecura.

“We have during the last period had the privilege to cooperate with Ecura’s management team to create a solid fundament for the next phase of the Ecura growth journey. Ecura delivers critical health and care services to the Norwegian society and we are impressed with the achievements of the company so far. Going forward, we believe there are several interesting development opportunities for Ecura – and we look very much forward to work together with the Ecura Team to further build the company for the benefit of employees, customers and owners”, says Jens Rugseth, Chairman and co-owner for Karbon.

For more information, please contact:

Hans Tindlund, Partner, Longship AS
+47 92 66 99 66
hans.tindlund@longship.no

Ellen Stebekk, Ecura AS
+47 930 90 608
ellen.stebekk@ecura.no

Christian Breddam, CEO, Karbon Invest AS
+47 939 49 393
christian.breddam@karbon.no

About Longship:

Longship is a Norwegian private equity investor established in 2015 by an experienced team of investment professionals. Longship invests in companies with significant growth potential in the Norwegian lower mid-market, and is applying a transformational growth approach, organically and through M&A. Longship pursues a thematic investment strategy, supporting long term sustainable businesses within Technology and Digitalization, Sustainability, Leisure and Lifestyle, and Health and Care. The investment team consists of eleven professionals, making Longship the leading player in the Norwegian lower mid-market. Longship closed its second fund in November 2020 and has approx. NOK 3.1bn of assets under management.

About Karbon Invest:

Karbon Invest, privately owned by Jens Rugseth and Rune Syversen, is a Norwegian investment company with an industrial background and long-term perspective. Karbon’s portfolio currently comprises eleven active investments in high-growth companies in addition to selected real estate assets.

The owners of Karbon have founded and built companies such as Crayon, Link Mobility and Sikri – all leading companies in respective fields with focus on IT, technology and services. Karbon takes an active, responsible and industrial approach in all investments to build lasting value for all stakeholders; customers, shareholders, employees and society. Many of Karbon’s companies delivers services to private and public customers and spans several geographies.