Gjelsten

"equally important was that Ugland, who was accustomed to much larger amounts from shipping, gave them confidence to set larger goals and go international. At the same time, one of the founders of Bik Bok, Kenneth Sandvold, joined the board. "We set ourselves tremendously ambitious goals and aimed to build up a dealer network all over Europe," says Gjelsten."

"Røkke wanted to rise and succeed, eagerly seizing the opportunity when he heard that Breivik was looking for people with trawling experience. It was summer, and Gjelsten was home in Norway. Thus, he had his friend drive him to Ålesund for an interview with the fishing boat owner, and it was an optimistic pair of friends who jumped into Gjelsten's red Ford Capri and drove cheerfully over Ørskogsfjellet. However, the return was done in silence. The interview had gone south, Røkke believed. He had gotten worked up about the American dream, and now it was just to let it go. It didn't help that Gjelsten did everything he could to lighten his spirits."

"But what impressed Gjelsten the most was the sports star's ability to turn his own sporting triumphs into economic success. Shorter had indeed built up an entire conglomerate that made jogging attire under the brand name Frank Shorter Sportswear. He had managed to market himself as something of a jogging wave pioneer, and Gjelsten was given something to think about. He was in a similar situation himself – his sports career was waning. He had indeed received a free education through his skiing skills, but now it was the economist Gjelsten that mattered. What was he going to do?"

"For Gjelsten, it was especially pleasing that he could revive his father's old workplace, Tomren Factories, which, like much of the Norwegian textile industry, collapsed in the late 70's. GN bought an 80 percent stake in the successor, Tomra Konfeksjon AS, an initiative that was doomed by the local Labor Party newspaper, Romsdal Folkeblad. This had to be a fiasco, the newspaper stated. "In retrospect, it is interesting to note that the factory at least outlived the newspaper," Gjelsten says ironically."

"What Røkke and Gjelsten had in common was a belief in what is known abroad as "relational business," which means doing business with a few individuals whom one builds long-term and good relations with. It can be customers, suppliers, or banks – the important thing is always to do business that is good for both parties."

"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."

"In Gresvig, however, Røkke and Gjelsten were not interested in extracting the gold any longer. It was much more interesting to sell the gold mine onwards. With Austad in the boss’s chair, the company had turned around and was doing well, now a sale was on the horizon. The job went to Dag Fasmer Wittusen and his team. They listed Gresvig on the stock exchange and put out a small share offering for public sale. "All of Norway" wanted to buy into Kjell Inge Røkke's successful company. Shares for 90 million kroner were released in the first round, and they were sold out 17 times!"

"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."

"For Johnny Austad, Gresvig was a saga that made him a multimillionaire. When he turned 40, he bought himself a Harley Davidson motorcycle, and he made the roads in Inner Østfold unsafe. But only for a short while, because soon after, he was paralyzed in half of his face. The muscles in his face couldn't handle the wind, so he had to stop riding motorcycles. Instead, it was back to business, as they were now looking for more brands, and Austad had no doubt when he spoke with Gjelsten and Røkke: As a customer, he had experienced the Mosse-company Helly Hansen up close, and there was much that could be improved. "If you are going to buy a new brand, it must be Helly Hansen," said Austad. In Austad's eyes, Helly Hansen did everything wrong. Instead of making what customers wanted, they made products that suited production. They held a world-leading brand, but only had products for bad weather – a type of weather that almost only existed north of the Arctic Circle. Orkla CEO Jens P. Heyerdahl had also noticed the pupil's good handling with Gresvig. It was Orkla that owned Helly Hansen, and Heyerdahl knew all too well that they had never managed to get things running smoothly. Helly Hansen was one of the last textile factories to move production from Norway to Portugal, and when the rest moved on to the East, Helly Hansen was left with a large Portuguese factory. Something was fundamentally wrong, the Orkla CEO understood."

"The meeting began with Austad presenting the company and his thoughts about the future. Then they went out and walked around the buildings on the fields east of Askim. There, Austad was pulled aside by Gjelsten's partner and asked a short question: "Do you believe in this?" When Austad answered yes, the decision was made. From then on, both Gjelsten and the unknown partner, who of course was Kjell Inge Røkke, talked as if they were going to buy Gresvig."

"When the offer came from Manchester United, Solskjær was sent to the cinema while Gjelsten and Røkke went with their private jet to meet manager Alex Ferguson. There was no sense in being humble. Pay 15 million kroner, or forget the whole deal, was the message to the big club. In Norway, this was an unheard-of price for a player they had given a fifth part for the year before. But Manchester bent and paid reluctantly. In Norway, Røkke and Gjelsten were celebrated as Molde's "rich uncles" and some fantastic negotiators who managed to get out a record sum. But the joy was somewhat short-lived, as Solskjær scored in his first game and became a favorite at Old Trafford. Two years later, he was valued at 100 million kroner. For once, the buyers made a significantly better deal than the two football idiots from Molde. But the sale taught Røkke one thing: If Solskjær could become a star in Manchester, then the difference between Molde Football Club and the British major team valued at several billion kroner on the London stock market was not so big. Drillos had taught Norway that we could measure up with the world's best national teams. It was just about leaving respect at home and thinking big. The same thing could happen with Molde."

"Only a few months later, the last piece showed what puzzle Kjell Inge Røkke had laid. It then became known that Orkla Finans had been hired to turn the football madness into shiny kroner. It smelled of a future stock listing from a mile away. First, Røkke founded the investment company Wyndmore N.V. in the Dutch Antilles. He then transferred his 80 percent of Wimbledon and 88 percent of Molde there. And who else but real estate director Jan Petter Storetvedt emerged from the great nothing and occupied the director position. "It's my job to try to make the best out of those investments," he stated to the press. At the next step was stock market listing, most observers immediately thought. And that was exactly what the court broker Orkla Finans was commissioned to evaluate. The idea was to get other investors to inject money into a project that valued Wimbledon at over 300 million kroner and Molde at 100 million. Sam Hammam certainly knows what he is thinking, and it is to lead Wimbledon into the future European League and possible major revenues from pay television. Gjelsten shares the visions: "We have ambitions for a fruitful collaboration between Molde and Wimbledon to turn Wimbledon into one of the big clubs – not just in England, but in Europe.""

"But Gjelsten was not only satisfied with the player trades becoming more professional, he wanted to streamline the entire Molde Football Club. The dream was a stock market listing. It was the start of a classic operation in Gjelsten & Røkke style: First, they injected 10 million into the newly founded Molde Fotball ASA. And when the club later invited others to buy shares for 50 million, the price per share quintupled. Thus, the "rich uncles" had already secured a very handsome return on their help to the city's pride."