Panostaja’s Ownership in Carrot Palvelut Group drops below 20%

Panostaja Oyj Stock Exchange Bulletin, Inside information November 9, 2021 at 14.30 p.m.

Panostaja’s Ownership in Carrot Palvelut Group drops below 20%

Panostaja has signed an agreement to sell Carrot Palvelut Group Oy’s shares to shareholders of the company. Carrot Palvelut Group Oy serves as the parent company of the Carrot HR services group.

As a result of the deal, Panostaja’s ownership in Carrot Palvelut Group Oy will drop to 19%. The total debt free enterprise value of the transaction is about MEUR 4.6. Once the deal has been completed, Panostaja Group will record about MEUR 0.3 in sales profit before taxes.

Carrot will continue operations as an independent group, and the primary owner from now on will be Jouni Arolainen. Carrot Palvelut Group has been owned by Panostaja since 2018.

“Our journey as Carrot’s owner has been challenging, and the company’s development has not reached the goals we have set for it. The recent effects of the pandemic, coinciding with changes in the company’s business, have now been successfully tackled and the demand and outlook are positive. The new structure will enable the company to engage its staff more widely than before and include new key people in the team. We believe this will shift the company’s net sales to a growing trend and provide the best opportunities for taking advantage of the market prospects. We would like to thank the entire staff of Carrot for our educational journey together,” says Panostaja’s CEO Tapio Tommila.

“This deal will provide Carrot with the opportunity to be closer to customers across a wider front than ever before. In its field, Carrot is a well-known and long-standing company that is known for uncompromising expertise and service quality. This change enables us to involve more committed professionals in the company’s story. The company’s committed staff have done excellent work through these difficult times, and I look forward to even closer cooperation than before,” describes Jouni Arolainen.

Once the deal has been completed, Carrot Palvelut Group will be fully removed from Panostaja Group’s reporting and profit/loss from continuing operations for the review period and reference period. Without Carrot, Panostaja Group’s comparable net sales and EBIT from continuing business operations for the 2020 financial period stood at MEUR 132.9 and MEUR 0.6, respectively.

During the financial periods of November 1, 2019-October 31, 2020 and November 1, 2018-October 31, 2019, the net sales and EBIT of the group formed by Carrot Palvelut Group Oy were as follows (FAS):

(in thousands of euros)	November 1, 2019–October 31, 2020	November 1, 2018–October 31, 2019
Net sales	14,540	20,855
EBIT	-1,916	-1,016

Carrot Palvelut Group’s balances on October 31, 2020 and October 31, 2019 were as follows:

(in thousands of euros)	October 31, 2020	October 31, 2019
Non-Current assets	6,275	7,788
Stocks	0	0
Receivables and Liquid assets	1,463	2,572
Total	7,738	10,361
Equity	-99	2,009
Liabilities	7,837	8,352
Total	7,738	10,361

Panostaja Oyj

Tapio Tommila
CEO

More information:

Tapio Tommila, CEO, Panostaja Oyj, +358 (0)40 527 6311, tapio.tommila@panostaja.fi
Jouni Arolainen, +358 (0)400 875 030, jouni.arolainen@carrot.fi

Panostaja is an investment company developing Finnish SMEs in the role of an active shareholder. The company aims to be the most sought-after partner for business owners selling their companies as well as for the best managers and investors. Together with its partners, Panostaja strives to increase shareholder value and create Finnish success stories. Panostaja has five segments. Panostaja’s shares (PNA1V) are quoted on the Nasdaq Helsinki Stock Exchange. In the 2020 financial year, the Group’s net sales totaled MEUR 159. www.panostaja.fi

Established in 1998, Carrot specializes in human resources services, providing nationwide high-quality staffing, recruitment and outsourcing services. The company’s customers include companies in logistics, industry and construction. In 2020, the company’s net sales stood at MEUR 14.5 and it employed 377 people on average.
https://carrot.fi/