Litorina takes over Swedish credit card protection company

Nordic buyout firm Litorina Kapital has bought Securia Systems, a personal protection and insurance company, for an undisclosed sum.

Securia provides protection and support for credit cards as well as mobile phones and keys. The company operates in Sweden, Finland and Norway as well as having joint ventures in Poland, Russia and Chile.

The company’s former owners will remain as minority shareholders.

Jörgen Ekberg, senior partner at Litorina Kapital’s Litorina Capital Advisors, said: “We expect to grow the business by more than 50 percent to an EBIT of more than €4 million ($ 5.4 million) in 2007.” The company had an EBIT of more than €1 million in the first quarter, which has been supported by the company’s strong cash flows, he added.

Over the past two years Securia has enjoyed 90 percent sales growth. The buyout firm said in a statement the company would benefit from market drivers such as the increasing usage of non-cash payments, mobile phones and other electrical equipment.

Litorina Kapital, which had the first close of its third fund this month on SEK 843 million, now has SEK 2 billion ($292 million, €217 million) under management across three funds. Recently it achieved a nine times return on its initial investment in Q-matic, a company it bought jointly with 3i in 2004, through a sale to buyout firm Altor.