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Altor Fund II has bought NorthStar Battery Company, a Swedish manufacturer of high performance batteries and standby power systems.

The fund, which was advised by Nordic-focused private equity firm Altor Equity Partners, acquired the business for an undisclosed sum in a deal that included NorthStar’s standby power systems manufacturing subsidiary, SiteTel.

Altor partner Harald Mix said the firm backed NorthStar due to its state-of-the-art manufacturing technology providing potential growth for the business.

“We look forward to supporting management in the continued development of NorthStar and SiteTel and will actively look to expand the company’s global operations both through greenfield investments and as an active participant in further industry consolidation,” he added.

NorthStar’s chief executive, Larry Hill, added that the board look forward to developing the business with Altor’s backing. “We have a strong foundation to build on and we will now be able to accelerate our global expansion.”

Altor’s funding was supported by debt provided by lead arranger Kaupthing Bank, which also provided revolving and factoring loans to back the deal.

Its team was led by senior client executive Peter Hermansson and engagement manager Max Jonson.

Hermansson said Altor is an existing client of the bank and was approached in May to back the NorthStar deal. “Following a swift internal credit process, Altor Equity Partners announced Kaupthing Bank as exclusive debt provider for the deal, resulting in the largest transaction led by the bank’s Swedish corporate banking team to date.

The vendors were advised throughout the transaction by investment bank Goldsmith Agio Helms.

NorthStar, which was established in 2000, is a provider of high performance, lead-acid batteries and standby power systems to some of the world’s leading telecom OEMs and operators.

It has some 400 employees at its operations in Missouri, (US), Stockholm (Sweden) and Shanghai (China).

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