Explore Equity enters into partnership with Construction Equipment Group

Explore Equity (Explore) partners with Construction Equipment Group (CEG) to build a leading construction equipment company in the Nordics. The partnership is the fourth investment by Explore’s Fund I and a continuation of Explore’s growth investment strategy in partnership with existing owners, founders, and management of distinct niche companies.

CEG currently owns Gjerstad Group (Gjerstad), a Nordic leader in engineering, sales, and distribution of excavator buckets. Through its unique operating model and niche focus, Gjerstad has developed into a resilient, profitable growth company with revenues of ~NOK 160m and 12% EBITDA margins in 2020.

CEG is actively engaging with other leading niche construction equipment companies to expand its product portfolio and improve the customer offering, and acquisitions are expected later this year.

Explore will continue to support CEG in the development of its product offering and business model, both through organic initiatives and add-ons acquisitions.

“We are impressed by CEG’s and Gjerstad’s high quality offering and unique operating model – always keeping customers’ needs in focus. CEG exemplifies the characteristics we seek in partnership investments: attractive position within a growing niche, resilient business model, clear value creation levers to improve customer offerings and competitiveness, and motivated employees who are eager to take the company to the next level. We look forward to working together with Tor and the team to take CEG further as a leading construction equipment provider in the Nordics,” says Morten Urdal Bakke, Investment Manager at Explore Equity.

“We immediately established a solid connection with the Explore team, both professionally and personally. I am convinced the complementary skillsets of the CEG team and Explore will create a Nordic leader within construction equipment. Together with our employees I am looking forward to embarking on the next chapter of CEG,” says Tor Kjetilson Moe, CEO of CEG.

To learn more about CEG and Gjerstad, please go to: www.gjerstad.com.

For more information, please contact:

Tor Kjetilson Moe, CEO at Construction Equipment Group AS, tkm@cegroup.no

Morten Urdal Bakke, Investment Manager at Explore Equity, mub@exploreequity.com

About Explore

Explore Equity is a partnership equity growth fund investing in Nordic companies with solid and distinct growth characteristics. We seek to drive value creation together with existing management and partners by leveraging more than 80 years of experience in professional and financial services and in industrial and consumer product companies.