Ahlsell

"My idea was to try to gain control over the Chest's holdings in Boliden, Ahlsell, and the security company Securitas, and to acquire a large ownership in Trelleborg. We were not so interested in the other parts. Behind the plan lay an analysis and a belief that true long-term value creation must have its basis in Swedish industrial companies. The belief in the future of Swedish industry was an opinion I had the opportunity to express in several newspaper interviews, which provided good headlines in the 1980s environment where much was about real estate and "quick deals.""

"My analyses of the prospective companies gave me a wish list. We wanted an ownership position in the rubber company Trelleborg for its stable operations, and therefore good dividends, to live on, furthermore the undervalued Boliden and Ahlsell to turn them around, and the majority of the security company Securitas for future long-term development. It would also be good to have an option on the skilled textile company Almedahl-Dalsjöfors. We also wanted a debenture to manage the financing. We would release all shares in Herakles, which essentially then became a cash reserve, or as Robert Weil's partner and CEO of Proventus, Gabriel Urwitz, put it: a financial muscle. We would not argue with each other going forward."

"In the group surrounding Bo Sandell, there were a number of energetic people of varying quality who pushed for larger power-related deals. There were some significant positions in established large companies such as the rubber company Trelleborg via the investment company Hevea, controlled by Skrinet, the mining company Boliden, and the trading wholesaler Ahlsell. Bo Sandell's colleague Michael Hasselqvist built up the finance company Nyckeln but eventually left Skrinet for other tasks with Anders Wall, the big star of the 1980s and a pioneer in bold corporate deals with his Beijerinvest. Nyckeln later acquired a new ownership group outside of Skrinet and met a grim fate during the financial crisis in Sweden in 1990."