Hardball is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

investment company An investment company is a financial institution principally engaged in holding, managing and investing securities. These companies in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and must be registered under the ...

founded in 2004 to finance player transfers for the

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team

SK Brann Sportsklubben Brann (commonly known as Brann, and less often as SK Brann) is a Norwegian professional football club, founded 26 September 1908, from Bergen. Brann had been in the Eliteserien, Norway's Premier Division of Football, since 1987, bar ...

from Bergen, Norway. Former news editor at Norwegian TV 2 and managing director of software company

Vizrt Vizrt (), short for ''Visualization in Real-Time'' or ''Visual Artist'', is a Norwegian company that creates content production, management, and distribution tools for the digital media industry. Its products include applications that create r ...

, Bjarne Berg, fronted Hardball and was one of several members of the investors group until his death in 2010. Eivind Kåre Lunde is the company's Managing Director. When a Hardball financed player is sold, Hardball is to have their investment back after expenses are withdrawn. Any

profit Profit may refer to: Business and law * Profit (accounting), the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market * Profit (economics), normal profit and economic profit * Profit (real property), a nonpossessory intere ...

s are to be divided 50-50 between Hardball and Brann. Hardball has no ownership in Brann, and the power to sell or trade players stays with the club. The investors are predominantly local businessmen from Bergen and are known Brann supporters, and have expressed desire to help Brann becoming a top class team. According to Bjarne Berg, the company's long-term goal is to make itself redundant without losing money in the process. The company has partially or fully financed the following player transfers: Note! All transfer fees are approximates. Investors of Hardball: «Gutteklubb» vil kjøpe gullet
, Nettavisen, September 8, 2006 * Svein Ove Strømmen - IT *Rolf Westfal-Larsen - Shipping *Eivind Kåre Lunde - Managing Director of Hardball * Bjarne Berg - Managing Director of Hardball *Reidar Andreas Madsen - Real estate and supermarkets *Oddvar Leiv Holmedal - Catering *Arne Veidung - Importer of wine and liquor *Tor-Inge Måkestad - Fruit and vegetable importer *Per Jæger - Automobile sales *Knut Herman Holler Gjøvaag - Automobile sales *Hermund Sigfred Linde - Real estate *Bjarne Davidsen - IT *Karl Kvalheim - Shipping broker *Arne Viste - Shipping *Tore Brynjulfsen - Real estate

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardball (Company) Financial services companies of Norway Companies based in Bergen Norwegian companies established in 2004 Financial services companies established in 2004