Enskilda Banken

"Åkerlund backed down when faced with a done deal. However, the issue was not resolved with this. Åkerlund definitely wanted to get rid of his bond commitments totaling 700,000 kronor. And Ruben wanted to get rid of Erik Åkerlund’s option to avoid future problems. Therefore, a series of negotiations began that were only resolved in 1937 when the bank director Richard Julin, who was responsible for Åkerlund & Rausing’s credits at Enskilda Banken, stepped in as a mediator. The settlement consisted of the bank approving Åkerlund & Rausing’s loans of 700,000 kronor to remain, against publishing mortgages in the company. At the same time, the bank took over loans from Åkerlund to the company totaling 500,000 kronor on the condition that Ruben, Holger Crafoord, and Börje Svenby provided guarantees for the money. In addition, Ruben had a personal debt to Erik Åkerlund of 400,000 kronor for his share of the shares. This debt was also resolved through loans in the bank. Shares in the company were given as security. Against a commission of 50,000 kronor, Enskilda Banken had saved Ruben’s business."

"The question was miraculously solved through a personal visit to the district chief judge Marcus Wallenberg senior, who approved the loans. The peculiar thing was that although Ruben had left Enskilda Banken in a manner that went against the bank’s traditions – one leaves “neatly” within Wallenberg companies – he maintained very good relations with the Wallenberg family itself. The explanation may have been that Ruben had been written up in the black book that the bank’s credit manager, Richard Julin, kept on promising young corporate leaders."

"Arfwedson was very upset. During the conversation with him, Ruben was informed that firstly, one did not simply leave Enskilda Banken, as it was a privilege to start there. Secondly, it was not in the bank’s interest for young men “who mostly just got in the way” to leave before they had contributed anything useful. “I understand all that, but I was actually not thinking primarily of the bank’s interests but of my own,” Ruben confidently replied and resigned with immediate effect."

"The foremost manufacturers of printing presses were located in Germany at this time, which is why Holger and Börje Svenby went there to negotiate among others. Quite soon, they discovered that they could exploit the Nazi regime’s export subsidies by moving back and forth between competing manufacturers and presenting new offers of lower prices. The sellers then turned to the government to get increased subsidies, which was also approved. In the end, they had arranged brand new presses for the company but at a price that was far below the market value. Enskilda Banken, in other words, did not have to finance the new presses. The German state did instead."

"They also did not want to list any of their other companies on the stock market, since Tetra Pak’s poor finances had also dragged down their value. Thus, they would not be able to raise enough money from an IPO of them either. Eventually, they concluded that the only thing they could do was to sell Åkerlund & Rausing and thereby save Tetra Pak, at least for a while. For Ruben, deciding to sell Åkerlund & Rausing was relatively easy. On one hand, he was most interested in working on new projects, on the other hand, Holger had closed the company’s cashbox for Tetra Pak. Ruben simply could not withdraw more money from Åkerlund & Rausing to finance the further development of Tetra Pak. Another major contributing reason for deciding to sell Åkerlund & Rausing was that they had noticed that the company’s revenue curve had begun to flatten out. The company had been first in the market with disposable paper packaging and had thrived in the rapidly growing market. But now there were several competitors, and the market was largely cornered. Holger and Ruben had no choice. Enskilda Banken was pressing them through CEO Marc Wallenberg, Marcus Wallenberg’s eldest son. He refused to lend more money to Ruben’s and Holger’s company. Instead, he demanded that they find money elsewhere."

"Parallel to trying to increase bag sales, Ruben wanted to initiate a technical development equivalent to that of other industrial nations, where they had already begun selling all kinds of goods in ready-made packages. He wanted, he wrote to Enskilda Banken, to interest manufacturers of large product groups in suitable packaging. This would be done by demonstrating the economic advantages that modern packaging technology and distribution could offer. In other words, the bags were just the first step in a plan."

"The situation was grim and it seemed that the only thing that could save Tetra Pak was to borrow more capital. It was Ruben who in March 1971 was tasked with going to Stockholm and talking to his friends in the Wallenberg family to try to get new credits from Enskilda Banken. But once in Stockholm, he was immediately disappointed. His old friend Marcus did not even receive him. He believed that as chairman of the board, he should not interfere in the daily management of the bank. Ruben had to settle for “just” meeting the bank’s CEO, Marcus’s oldest son, Marc. Ruben took it as a personal insult that he did not get to meet the head of the finance family. It was as if they treated him like just any zero and not the great industrialist Ruben Rausing. He was no less offended that Marc refused to lend him the ten million kronor that the company needed."