About Thule

Malmö – Thule’s majority owner Nordic Capital Fund VI and seven Nordic banks have agreed to substantially strengthen the capital base of the company and to deleverage the Group.

“This forms a solid base for the company going forward. We have gone through a very intense period during the past months to align our financial structure to substantially changed market conditions. I am very pleased that this solution is now in place and that Nordic Capital Fund VI remains as majority owner of Thule”, comments CEO Anders Pettersson.

Thule’s forecasted trading for the full fiscal year of 2008 is estimated at SEK 6 billion in net sales. The operating result before interest expenses, tax, depreciations and amortizations (EBITDA) is expected to be in the range of SEK 550-600 million. Net sales on pro forma basis for 2007 were at SEK 6.7 billion with an EBITDA of SEK 765 million.

“We have managed to gain market share during the year despite a very challenging business environment. Additionally, we have implemented a wide range of internal efficiency programs to offset the effects of weaker sales in business areas closely related to the car industry”, Anders Pettersson adds.

“The successful financial restructuring of Thule enables us to 100% focus on our operations during 2009. We have a very strong balance sheet and access to sufficient cash resources to weather the storm on major global markets. Current earnings show also that we can continue to make a healthy profit in spite of tough market conditions”, Anders Pettersson adds.

“Thule is an excellent company with an outstanding brand and products. Our business partners and customers can rely on us building an even stronger Thule in the coming years”, Anders Pettersson concludes.

The restructuring in short

Nordic Capital Fund VI and seven Nordic banks have strengthened the capital base of Thule. Nordic Capital Fund VI remains majority owner of Thule and has injected new equity into the company. The seven banks have converted a minor part of senior debt to preference shares but apart from this senior loans have not been reduced. Through the restructuring the cash-paying debt has decreased significantly and yearly cash interests have decreased by approx. 45%.