DeVos family acquires stake in Swedish PE firm

DeVos family acquires stake in Swedish PE firm

GRAND RAPIDS — A subsidiary of RDV Corp., the family office for the DeVos family, has acquired a stake in Swedish-based private equity firm Nordic Capital.

Terms of the investment by Ottawa Avenue Private Capital LLC were undisclosed. In an announcement today, Nordic Capital described the investment as Ottawa Avenue Private Capital acquiring a “a passive minority equity interest” that will strengthen its balance sheet, enabling the firm to “further invest in its businesses.”

“We are excited to partner with a trusted long-term investor in this next phase of the firm’s growth. The partnership with OAPC will enable Nordic Capital to invest more in our business and continue to build and develop talents and our platform,” Kristoffer Melinder, managing partner of Nordic Capital Advisors, said in a statement. “We are proud to bring on OAPC as our partner to enable our continued growth, building on our long history for the years to come.”

A spokesman for RDV Corp. declined comment, other than tell MiBiz via an email that “as a matter of company policy, we do not provide insights regarding our investing strategy.”

Formed in 1989 and based in Stockholm, Sweden, Nordic Capital invests in the health care, technology and payments, and financial services sectors in Northern Europe, and in health care in the U.S. Over its 30-year history, the firm has invested more than $15.4 billion in more than 100 investments and presently has $14.2 billion in assets under management.

The Wall Street Journal first reported this morning that Ottawa Avenue Private Capital planned to invest in Nordic Capital. The Journal reported that Ottawa Avenue “is among a growing number of participants in the rapidly expanding market for private-equity firm stakes, as investors look for new ways to tap into an asset class that has raised record sums in recent years.”

RDV formed Ottawa Avenue Private Capital in 2016, as MiBiz previously reported.

Federal regulatory filings show that in addition to the $130 million fund created in 2016, Ottawa Avenue Private Capital formed a $163 million fund in February 2018 with the backing of investors.


EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated with additional details about Ottawa Avenue Private Capital creating a fund in 2018.