(Bloomberg) -- EQT AB agreed to sell its stake in Ottobock SE back to the German prosthetics company’s controlling shareholders.

The buyout firm sold its 20% holding in Ottobock to billionaire Hans Georg Näder and his family, it said in an emailed statement Wednesday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. The sale fetched about €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion), valuing Ottobock at roughly €5.5 billion, people with knowledge of the matter have said.

EQT said it expects the deal to be completed in the first half of the year. 

The Näder family is set to finance the acquisition with a €1.1 billion payment-in-kind note at the holding company level, people with knowledge of the matter said earlier. Private credit funds managed by firms including Carlyle Group Inc., KKR & Co., Hayfin Capital Management and Macquarie Group Ltd. are among those providing the financing, according to the people. 

PIK notes are a type of debt that give the borrower the right to defer interest payments until the loan matures.

Sweden’s EQT invested in Ottobock in 2017 in a deal valuing the business at about €3.15 billion. Founded by Otto Bock in 1919, the company is a major player in the prosthetics sector, having launched the first completely microprocessor-controlled lower limb prosthesis, among other innovations.

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