Gustav Olsson

"Soon it also became apparent that external factors were not the major problem in Ruben and Erik Åkerlund’s company. Instead, it was the finances within AB Lito & Kartong that became the major stumbling block. Erik Åkerlund had been in such a hurry to buy the company that he had not taken the time to check the books. Instead, he had settled for Gustav Olsson’s guarantee that the business was profitable. When Ruben analyzed the accounts for 1929 at the beginning of 1930, he was horrified. The losses were so great that it would likely take several years to turn the situation around – if at all possible."

"At the same time, he heard about the Malmö company AB Lito & Kartong, which had previously yielded good profits. Among other things, the company had managed to outcompete SLT in the fight for deliveries to the Tobacco Monopoly, which was the country’s largest packaging consumer. However, the company had now run into financial difficulties after the owner, Gustav Olsson, had been fined heavily for false declaration. Moreover, Lito & Kartong had quite immediately lost the contract with the Tobacco Monopoly, after it was revealed that Olsson had bribed his way to it. Since the Tobacco Monopoly was the company’s biggest customer, the financial loss was extremely noticeable."

"Åkerlund contacted Olsson who was eager to sell. Both Åkerlund and Olsson were in a hurry, which is why this deal was also quickly completed. Moreover, it was further expedited by Gustav Olsson using business methods during the negotiations that resembled Åkerlund’s own: he claimed that SLT also wanted to buy the company. The usually cool negotiator Erik Åkerlund, who immediately suspected that it could be Ruben behind it, was stressed by the information and decided to strike immediately. For 800,000 kronor, he now entered the sought-after packaging industry. As soon as the contract was signed, he sought out Ruben and concluded with satisfaction that he had beaten him to it. Ruben did not understand at all what he was referring to."