Avantor

"During some quick chess moves, Røkke, Gjelsten, and Storetvedt moved properties between their companies and hyped up the values. Once again, Kjell Inge Røkke was on all sides of the table when the deals were made. It started with ANS Gresvig Bygg, the headquarters of the sports wholesaler in Askim. The building was sold to Gjelsten & Røkke Eiendom and leased back again. Now, you might not think that had a significant effect, but then you do not work at the Oslo Stock Exchange. With this maneuver, Røkke managed to reduce the debt in Gresvig – while simultaneously increasing the income in his real estate company. And just like that, both rose in value, even though Røkke was really just dealing with himself. This is how a kingdom was united under Jan Petter Storetvedt. When one of Røkke's companies had a large office or a factory building, it was sold – and leased back. Thus, everything was transferred to the newly started company Industribygg. Gradually, this company had purchased industrial buildings for close to 275 million kroner from the other Røkke companies, including four factory buildings belonging to the major fish exporter Skaarfish, which Røkke bought for a song when the company was down and out. Thus, the companies were stripped of properties. But not to slaughter them and parcel them out into delicacies according to Bjørn Rune Gjelsten: "The reason why we established Industribygg was that too much management time was spent on the property holdings and not on operations. Managers should focus on operations, and the real estate company should take care of the properties." Moreover, it was Røkke and Gjelsten who held the magic formula that could transform the dusty industrial buildings into ringing coin in the cash register. The first move was a stock market listing, or rather; finding a backdoor onto the Oslo Stock Exchange. The solution was the real estate company Avantor, the Andenæs family's old company which had developed, among other things, Oslo Havnelager, but which was leading a dormant existence, marked by the family's financial troubles. It was another friendly raid."

"Røkke proposed a brilliant approach from his perspective. What about letting Orkla Finans be the financial adviser for both parties? Incredibly, the Andenæs family agreed to the proposal. Thus, the brokerage firm that Røkke had almost single-handedly kept alive was engaged to price the two companies. In return, Avantor would get both the chairman and the CEO in the new company if they just agreed to buy Gjelsten & Røkke Eiendom for the price determined by Orkla Finans. According to the brokerage firm, the values were not small. Deducting debt, Gjelsten & Røkke Eiendom was worth 620 million kroner, Orkla Finans believed. It was quite a value increase from the first, faltering attempts with the Moldehallen in the mid-80s. The golden coup was Elkem Eiendom, which, according to Orkla Finans, was approaching a billion in gross value. Deducting debt, there was no doubt that the effort had more than doubled in just over a year. The Avantor management did not take the values at face value, but, tempted by the bait of filling the leadership positions and with a bit of a discount, a deal was made. The outcome was that Kjell Inge Røkke and Bjørn Rune Gjelsten ended up owning 65 percent of the “new” Avantor. But what about Jan Petter Storetvedt? Did they really sacrifice their loyal property manager to get in through the back door at the Oslo Stock Exchange via Avantor? Not at all, it was just Avantor's CEO Leif E. Johansen who thought so. He celebrated May 17th in the usual way and showed up at Avantor's general meeting the next day to convince the shareholders to accept the offer. They applauded him into the CEO seat for the new major company, and Johansen could face the summer as leader of one of the largest real estate players in the country. Two months later, he was fired by Kjell Inge Røkke because the collaboration allegedly "did not develop as expected." Consequently, Johansen had to walk out with a million in severance pay and left the chief's chair he had occupied for 12 years to Jan Petter Storetvedt. The former chairman Rolf Gulbrandsen remained a bit longer, but by the turn of the year, it was Bjørn Rune Gjelsten who was running the shop. For it is power that rules, and with 65 percent of the shares, there was no doubt about who had the final word."

"It is in real estate that Kjell Inge Røkke has performed his toughest stunts, and it is here he has used some of the toughest methods. Method number one has been to buy up the debt of crisis-stricken companies and then pressure the management and owners to beg for mercy. When you sit with large loans and do not have money to pay interest, then you do not have much to say. With the merger with Avantor, Røkke's foreign properties were separated out so that they were not included in the deal. Thus, Ken Uptain continued to manage the luxurious Grand Harbor project in Florida and the less lucrative Lynnwood shopping center in Seattle for RGI. At the beginning of the 90s, Uptain represented one of the real veterans in Røkke's business life. They had known each other since the first party in 1984 and had been partners in many hundreds of apartments. Moreover, it was Uptain who came up with the name that would become Røkke's: The Resource Group, which eventually became RGI. Now, he was a bit sidelined as Jan Petter Storetvedt emerged as the new real estate comet within the group."

"The next step was to sell off the large collection of factory buildings located in the company Industribygg. Again, a brokerage firm was called in, and again they returned with rosy valuations. Sundal Collier & Co believed the collection of industrial buildings could be worth just over half a billion kroner. It was just a matter of finding a buyer. Finance newspaper smelled the rat and asked Kjell Inge Røkke outright if Avantor was a potential buyer. "I haven't asked Jan Petter Storetvedt about it, but I'm not sure Industribygg is the right property mass for them," he replied. However, two months later, Røkke was sure of just the opposite – the property mass was indeed perfectly suited for Avantor. It was a strange board meeting, where Røkke – despite being both buyer and seller – did not leave the room. On the contrary, he chose to sit on both sides of the table when Avantor decided to pay 390 million kroner for his company. "It was never a topic that Røkke should not participate in the meeting. In my board, everyone says what they want anyway," Storetvedt explained afterwards. When directly asked if he ever considered staying away from the board meeting, Røkke replied: "That's a silly question. I saw it as my task to consider the administration's recommendation.""

"The perhaps most important deal concerned the possible merger between Gjelsten & Røkke Eiendom and the real estate company Avantor – a gigantic deal in the several hundred million class, which was also very sensitive to the stock market because Avantor shares were bought and sold on the Oslo Stock Exchange. And there, no one knew anything about the upcoming merger and the possible price increase that such good news could entail."