Harald Mix

"Savén took the largest share, two-thirds, arguing that he was the initiator. He also had the most money. Harald Mix and Kim Wahl shared the rest; throughout the journey, they had equally large stakes. Both Mix and Wahl took out loans to become co-owners of Industri Kapital (later IK Investment Partners, here called IK), as the company was named. It would turn out to be a brilliant investment."

"The hottest thing on the financial market in the USA in 1987 was the “LBO,” leveraged buyout, or the acquisition of companies from the stock exchange. That was what Harald Mix wanted to work with, and he felt he should take the opportunity and stay in New York. There, he got to know several Swedes who would later become key players in Swedish venture capital, among them Peder Pråhl and Björn Nilsson, who founded the healthcare company Carema’s owner Triton."

"In 1988, financier Gustaf Douglas and then-CEO of Securitas, later billionaire Melker Schörling, secured the first private contract in elderly care with their newly founded Svensk Hemservice. During the 1990s, the company went through several mergers and was eventually sold to become part of the healthcare group Attendo, which in 2013 was owned by IK. For a few years, Uppsala economist Peter Weiderman was CEO of Svensk Hemservice, and he then caught wind of the opportunities the care market offered. In 1996, with a total investment of SEK 15 million from Björn Savén, Harald Mix, and Kim Wahl, all at IK at the time, he started the healthcare company Carema. They could not let any of IK’s funds buy the company—it was too small an investment—but neither could they turn down what they perceived as a fantastic opportunity. And it was."

"The consistent, high returns that all venture capitalists and investors seek come from companies like Piab. Harald met his peer Jakob Tell at an event for young leaders. Jakob explained that his family had founded the company, which manufactures various types of vacuum pumps for industry, in the 1950s. But now they had decided to sell, as the family could not manage to take the business further on their own. Mix became curious and started digging into the numbers, what did the growth look like in the industry, “that’s crucial.” How competitive was Piab, how profitable? “Our question is always, even if things are going well, can it get even better? We don’t enter companies unless we believe we can double profitability within five years,” says Harald Mix. It ended with Altor buying 75 percent of Piab in 2006, of which a portion was sold to management, and the rest was retained by the Tell family. Between 2006 and 2011, the profit margin (profit as a share of revenue) increased from 10 to 27 percent. Piab is an example of how venture capitalists enter family businesses and raise growth and profitability targets, setting the bar higher than the family has managed to do, because a family that has everything they own in a company does not dare to bet and take risks in the same way."

"The problems there arose when Altor tried to build a total service model based on a foreign example. Major customers like Telia, who had spun off Relacom a few years prior, resisted. Harald Mix expresses it as “we underestimated our negotiating position vis-à-vis the large customers.” What had the partners lost? Probably not that much. It’s true that they themselves invest 1-2 percent in the funds in which they operate, but even if the fund performs poorly, they still get to keep the annual fee. And if the fund performs well, there will be a profit not only on the capital the partners have invested, but also on the profit-sharing “carried interest” they receive as a reward from the other investors in the fund. Because the annual fee serves as a cushion, the risk is not that high for the partners. They, unlike the investors, get paid no matter what."

"But Harald Mix says that Altor has reduced the risk in Carnegie. He points out that Carnegie has a large operation with fairly low risk; they manage just over 200 billion SEK for clients in their funds. On that money, fees of one to two percent per year are collected. “Wealth management” is what this growing industry of megafunds is called, which is to invest the public’s and companies’ pensions and savings. That is where Mix sees opportunities. — The savings market is growing by six to eight percent per year. But we know that the business is very cyclical. We may keep Carnegie for five or ten years; we’ll see what is required. Revenues fluctuate because stock prices do; in a downturn, revenues from the funds also fall because there is less capital to charge fees on. The acquisition of Carnegie/HQ is atypical for the industry; in general, private equity companies do not buy financial companies. They do not fit at all into the model that prescribes stable income. Many shake their heads at the purchase; others argue that Altor has performed a service to society—they saved a large company that would otherwise have gone under or been broken up."

"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."

"Harald Mix likes to draw parallels with sports stars; he sees sports as a good school for the culture he wants to cultivate. – It develops a competitive instinct, discipline, team spirit, and leadership, which are good qualities for working in this business. You have to be persistent. The sales process requires you to be persuasive, charming, able to create motivation, and never take no for an answer, says Mix."