Conni Jonsson

"But EQT’s best deal so far, one of the best ever made in Europe according to Conni Jonsson, was German Tognum. It yielded a profit equivalent to more than forty times the invested capital. Tognum built diesel engines, but the previous owner, Daimler-Chrysler, had let the subsidiary idle for a while. EQT made sure to use the expertise available in Tognum to broaden sales. They invested in a new generation of engines, targeted new markets, for example engines for large boats and ships, and thus increased both profit and sales. So how did EQT, a rather young and unknown company, manage to get to the negotiating table? The seller, the newly merged automotive group Daimler-Chrysler, mainly wanted to avoid the business ending up with their worst competitor, the truck manufacturer MAN. The bidder Carlyle was not a suitable buyer either, since Tognum had business with Cuba, a red flag for American companies. Instead, it became the little EQT. But they weren’t completely unknown, after all, Investor was a major shareholder in Daimler’s competitor Scania. It became an important deal not only because it was profitable, but because it marked an entry into the German market. Now, people there knew who the EQT people were when they called and wanted to do business."

"One evening, the founders sat together with a couple of brand consultants to brainstorm over a few beers about a name for the company. Thomas von Koch noticed that the new radio channel “Energy” is spelled NRJ, so it was apparent that “equity,” which is what they were involved in, would become EQT. The first fund raised 3.2 billion, with Investor and AEA each contributing 15 percent, and the rest of the capital coming from, among others, the AP funds. “We envisioned developing an industrial model of private equity, and that we could leverage the Wallenberg network. We didn’t have any more long-term plan than that,” says Conni Jonsson."

"But if Harald Mix has decided he wants something, he doesn’t give up. Even in private life. That’s why, in August 2010, he won the bidding war for the archipelago property Kallskär outside Norrtälje against what turned out to be a competitor. Conni Jonsson also sought peace in nature, and the asking price of SEK 17.5 million climbed to SEK 25 million before Jonsson let go."

"A good venture capitalist can prepare their company to enter a new market or launch a new product. But they themselves do not have the time horizon required for the effect of a large investment to materialize. Instead, the next owner pays to benefit from that effect; the price reflects future opportunities. However, the longer it takes for an investment to start paying off, the harder it is for the seller to get compensation in the form of a higher price. Investments with a horizon of more than ten years are based more on qualified expectations than anything else, just as Conni Jonsson points out: it is impossible to see that far into the future."

"A good venture capitalist can prepare their company to enter a new market or launch a new product. But they themselves do not have the time horizon required for the effect of a large investment to materialize. Instead, the next owner pays to benefit from that effect; the price reflects future opportunities. However, the longer it takes for an investment to start paying off, the harder it is for the seller to get compensation in the form of a higher price. Investments with a horizon of more than ten years are based more on qualified expectations than anything else, just as Conni Jonsson points out: it is impossible to see that far into the future."