Ratos AB (

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsSwedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...

company founded in 1934 and still controlled by the Söderberg family. Ratos is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.

History

The Söderberg brothers established Ratos in the 1933 as a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

for the family's growing enterprises. At the time the family was owners of Söderberg & Haak. Ratos developed with extensive ownership in companies such as

Stora Kopparberg Falun Mine (Swedish: ''Falu Gruva'') was a mine in Falun, Sweden, that operated for a millennium from the 10th century to 1992. It produced as much as two-thirds of Europe's copper needs and helped fund many of Sweden's wars in the 17th century. ...

, Gränges and Esselte in addition to a wholly owned

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

division. It was listed on the stock exchange in 1954. In 1979 the steel division, that at the time was called Tibnor, was sold to the state owned SSAB as part of the re-organization of the crisis hit steel industry. After that the company expanded into new areas, including a larger number of

transport companies Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, and ...

, the hotel chain Scandic Hotels and the plumbing chain Dahl International. During this period Sven Söderberg (1928-2004) was President and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

. The financial crisis hit Ratos with reduced profits in 1992 and Urban Jansson was appointed new CEO and the subsidiaries were either floated on the stock exchange or sold. After Arne Karlsson took over as CEO, Ratos was transformed to a private equity company. Magnus Agervald was appointed as CEO of Ratos in July 2016, replacing acting CEO Lars Johansson. In 2019, Ratos sold the Adelswärdska house, the building on Drottninggatan in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

where the head office is located. Buyers were the State Property Agency. The reason for the sale was the increasingly increased safety requirements in the environment, as the building lies between the Sagerska palace (the Prime Minister's Housing) and

Rosenbad Rosenbad (, lit. "rosen bath") is a building in central Stockholm, precinct of Norrmalm. It is a building owned by the Swedish State and serves as the seat of the Government. The present government of Sweden is the right-leaning Kristersson Cabi ...

(Government Offices) and the area was increasingly blocked off. The property was purchased by Söderberg & Haak in 1938 and later became rated. Ratos may dispose of the building until 2021.

Holdings

Industry

*AH Industries - metal components and services to the wind power, offshore and marine industries. (stake 66%) * Camfil - clean air technology and air filters. (stake 30%) *Contex Group - developer and manufacturer. (stake 98%) *

DIAB Dataindustrier AB (literal translation: computer industries shareholding company) or DIAB was a Sweden, Swedish computer engineering and manufacturing firm, founded in 1970 by Lars Karlsson and active in the 1970s through 1990s. The company's firs ...

- manufactures and develops core materials for composite structures. (stake 94%) *EuroMaint - maintenance companies and offers maintenance services to the rail transport sector and industry. (stake 100%) *GS-Hydro - supplier of non-welded piping systems. (stake 100%) *HL Display - supplier of products and systems for merchandising and in-store communication. (stake 29%) *Inwido - manufactures and sells windows and doors to consumers, construction companies and modular home manufacturers. (stake 96%) *Jøtul - manufacturer of stoves and fireplaces. (stake 63%) *Lindab - development, production, marketing and distribution of systems and products in sheet metal and steel for the construction industry. (stake 22%) *MCC - offers complete climate comfort systems. (stake 100%) *Medisize - manufacturer specialised in medical devices for delivery and administration of drugs and pharmaceutical packaging. (stake 93%) *Superfos - develops, produces and sells injection moulded packaging for the food, paint and chemical industries. (stake 33%)

Service

Anticimex Anticimex is an international modern pest control company. Anticimex means "Against bed bugs". Anticimex is mainly owned by EQT Partners and have subsidiaries in 20 countries. Anticimex operates in the areas of pest control, building environm ...

- services for healthy and safe indoor environments. (stake 85%) * Bisnode - provider of digital business information. (stake 70%)

Consumer goods

* Arcus Gruppen - wine and spirits producer. (stake 83%) *Hafa Bathroom Group - bathroom furnishing. (stake 100%)

Other holdings

*BTJ Group - supplier of media products and information services to libraries, universities, companies and organisations. (stake 66%) *

IK Investment Partners IK Partners (“IK”) is a European private equity firm focused on investments in the Benelux, DACH, France, Nordics and the UK. The firm is led Christopher Masek who has been the CEO since 2015. History IK Partners was founded under the nam ...

- Ratos has invested in four funds: 1989 (closed), 1994 (closed), 1997 and 2000. *Overseas Telecom - telecom operations in developing countries. (stake 9%, voting rights 19%)

References

External links

Corporate web site
Companies based in Stockholm Private equity firms of Sweden Holding companies of Sweden 1933 establishments in Sweden Financial services companies established in 1933 Companies listed on Nasdaq Stockholm {{Sweden-company-stub