During the 1980s, Proventus’ shares traded at a premium to net asset value. Entering the 1990s, however, the Swedish capital market increasingly used consolidated cash flow as a basis for valuing shares. The Proventus strategy of actively managing or participating in a limited number of changing structures did not emphasize quarter-to-quarter growth in earnings and cash flow as reported in Proventus’ financial statements. Accordingly, in the beginning of the 1990s, Proventus shares traded at an increasing discount to net asset value.

Without the ability to issue shares on reasonable terms, the rationale of executing the Proventus investment strategy through a publicly traded vehicle ceased to exist.

In 1995, Proventus was privatised. The leveraged transaction included the first-ever publicly traded, high-yield financing. Proventus was removed from the stock market in June 1995. After the buy-out, all efforts were focused on reducing interest-bearing debt. During the 30 months following the delisting, 11 investments were divested and more than SEK 4.2 billion in transaction value was realized.