G-Sport

"The end result was that Gresvig AS changed hands. First, Gjelsten and Røkke bought 60 percent of the shares, and after a short time, they tempted Aksel Gresvig enough to sell the rest as well. Thus, the two partners became owners of the country's largest sports wholesaler for 60 million kroner and started an acquisition that deserves to go into the textbook for future stock sharks. This is the story of a raid with a human face – a battle with no losers, only winners. Not many thought that Gjelsten and Røkke had made a good purchase. The price tag was so high that the previous owner, Aksel Gresvig, patted himself satisfied on his vest pocket and thought he had made a good deal. For the buyer, a tough race began to get the headstrong G-Sport stores back on track."

"Austad is an inspirer and a brand builder by the grace of God. Where others got hung up on zippers and buttons on the sports jackets, Austad noticed the brand on the chest. What were the customers really asking for when they bought Nike shoes for 1,300 kroner? Was it the quality of the shoe, or was it the status of owning such an expensive shoe, combined with the buyer believing the shoe was extremely good? Austad understood how the customers thought, and where sports stores nagged about screws, nuts, and service, the boss thought sales, sales, sales. Austad himself emphasizes that he should not take all the credit. Smart enough, he always stressed how important and useful it was to have Kjell Inge Røkke and Bjørn Rune Gjelsten on the board. "Most other boards spend 90 percent of the time talking about the past, and only 10 percent about the future. In the Gresvig board, it was the opposite. There we mostly looked forward," says Austad. Before the trio took over, G-Sport was a series of country stores with huge parts warehouses and outdated tracksuits. Many of the stores struggled heavily, with little support from the chain. Austad backed them into a corner: Either they joined, or they were out immediately."

"The Gresvig coup also had other typical Røkke traits. It was here he first discovered how useful it is to sit on all sides of the table. The first thing Røkke and Gjelsten did was to pump goods from their own companies through Gresvig. The G-Sport stores were filled with clothing items from Frank Shorter and Tomra – "on business terms," as it was stated. At the same time, they bought Gresvig's buildings and leased them back to Gresvig. Through many cunning maneuvers, the rest of the Røkke system extracted 40–50 million kroner a year. On top of that, Røkke and Gjelsten's company, Sport Invest Inc., demanded "consultancy fees" to assist the Gresvig management. No less than 13 million kroner were taken out in one year. To top it all off, the new owners were not modest enough to refrain from draining Gresvig of 36 million kroner in group contributions."