ICA

"The change in strategy at Skandia in 1998 gave Christer Dahlström and his three colleagues the opportunity to buy the business, which they named Priveq (a play on “private equity,” which is the English equivalent of risk capital firms). Skandia invested 600 million in the first fund, and Norwegian Orkla, ICA, Handelsbanken Liv and the Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund each invested 100 million. With a billion in their pockets, they moved out from Skandia on Sveavägen to their own office, hired four people and got started."

"Lindex and Ellos were prime examples of so-called “corporate orphans,” companies whose owners—in these two cases, grocery giant ICA—had abandoned them to their fate. It was rewarding. Under IK, the strategy was developed, among other things, for Lindex to focus on children’s clothing, which became highly successful. Lindex was eventually listed on the stock exchange, and in 2007 was bought up again by the Finnish clothing chain Stockmann."

"The partnership was in effect for about four years. It became economically very successful, but a complete failure in all other respects. We co-owned an investment company that came to own primarily hotel properties in Stockholm: Park Hotel, Sheraton, and Anglais, with heavy borrowing. The once skilled CFO at Sandvik, Carl-Eric Björkegren, who had a less successful career as a real estate speculator in the 1980s, wanted to be involved and have an option to sell his shares within a year. The money was to be delivered in ICA bags, as stated in the draft agreement. Nothing came of it."