We believe Sweden is facing a quiet generational shift.
A large share of the country’s profitable small and mid-sized companies are owned by entrepreneurs approaching retirement age. Over the next decade, most of them will change hands. What happens to them is not trivial — for the businesses, for their employees, for the towns where they exist. That is where we want to play a role.
The Swedish SME market.
Sweden has a long tradition of family-owned and entrepreneur-led businesses. Many of the companies that today form the backbone of Swedish industry and the consumer market were founded between the 1980s and the 2000s by people now in their fifties to seventies who are planning their next step. A large number of companies founded over recent decades are facing a change of ownership.
For many of these companies there is no obvious path forward. The children do not always want to take over. PE funds are too large to look at a company with SEK 50M in revenue. Industrial buyers are often interested but rarely willing to pay for a culture they plan to dismantle. The result is that companies with potential to develop further instead risk being wound down, broken up, or sold to buyers who do not understand what made them successful.
We believe there is room for a buyer that takes over these companies in order to keep developing them together with the previous owners before a sale to a larger player.
What we look for — and why.
Our structural thesis is not a checklist of revenue or profit — that you find on the home page. This is about something else: which characteristics of a company allow our experience and our way of working to have the most effect.
Digitally underdeveloped.
Companies where the product, brand, and customer relationship are strong, but where the digital infrastructure — e-commerce, data, automation, customer service — is still handled the way it was a decade ago. Where there is enormous potential for both efficiency and growth through the use of AI. That is where our experience reaches the furthest.
With strong brands.
Companies that over the years have built a clear position with their customers and suppliers. A brand, in our view, is not a logo but a coherent perception of quality, reliability, and trustworthiness. It can be developed, but it cannot be created from scratch in a few years.
With platform potential.
Companies where there is a logical basis for organic growth — new channels, new markets, adjacent assortments — or a natural role as a platform for smaller complementary acquisitions. The platform is not a requirement, but it is often how we think when we evaluate.
The operator perspective is universal.
We know the question exists: is consumer experience the right foundation for buying B2B companies? Our thesis is yes.
The operational muscles — logistics, assortment, brand, digital infrastructure — are universal and do not depend on the type of customer you sell to. The B2B customer’s behaviour is becoming more and more like that of a consumer, and the companies that grasp this first will win their niches.
Three phases, in order.
- 01Year 1
Stabilise
The first year is about understanding the company in depth and ensuring it keeps functioning. We make no major structural changes during the first six months unless we together believe it is right and important. We listen, observe, learn the processes, and build trust with the team. Stability is the precondition for everything else we do later.
- 02Years 2–3
Improve
Once we understand the company, we begin work on the operational improvements that have the greatest effect on cash flow and margin. We have experience using modern digital tools, including AI, to automate repetitive work, raise decision quality, and free up time for staff who today get stuck in administration. We bring both knowledge and concrete tools into every company — and complement the existing leadership rather than replacing it.
- 03Years 3–7
Grow
With a stable base and more efficient operations, the company can grow for real — organically through new channels, new geographies, or adjacent assortments, and in some cases through complementary acquisitions where there is natural synergy. The growth phase continues until the company has the size and shape that matches its next chapter — determined by how the company has developed, not by a deadline.
Four to seven years.
Our time horizon for a company we work with is normally 4–7 years. It rests on a fundamental conviction: real operational changes take time to implement, and even longer to stabilise.
A company that is digitalised in year two does not begin to see the effects until year three or four. Trying to force an exit before then means leaving value on the table — for the seller, for the company, and for the next owner.
The company is sold on when it is ready for a new owner, not when our fund happens to have a deadline.
Do you work with companies that fit our thesis?
We are happy to have a first conversation with sellers, brokers, M&A advisors, and others curious about how we think and where we can find opportunities together.
joel@fverk.se →