Securitas

"In the 1970s, he had pursued a career as a civil servant to build a solid knowledge base, as he himself puts it. He worked as a controller for four years at LM Ericsson in Mexico and spent a few years at ABB Fläkt in Stockholm before being appointed CEO of Essef Service, where he did such a good job that he was offered to become CEO of Crawford Door in the 1980s. Then the Securitas deal became the starting point for Schörling as a businessman, when the civil servant was given the opportunity to become a business builder and owner. He was forty years old and was about to start his own business. Therefore, it was far from certain that Douglas would succeed in persuading Schörling to take on the role as CEO. This gave him a good negotiating position."

"With many good deals since the first major investment of 25 million kronor in Securitas in 1987, Schörling’s capital has grown rapidly over a generation. As the owner of Edeby Manor, he is also one of Sweden’s largest real estate owners. Melker Schörling announced in the fall of 2016 that he would scale back for health reasons. Active in the next generation are his daughters Sofia Schörling Högberg and Märta Schörling Andréen. Melker Schörling’s fortune is valued at 55 billion kronor."

"A series of successful acquisitions, investments, and spin-offs—not least parts of Securitas that became new listed companies, such as Assa Abloy and Loomis, and Hexapol, which was spun off from Hexagon—made Schörling a major owner in an increasing number of listed companies."

"Melker Schörling and Gustaf Douglas became a dynamic duo, and their approach to driving development in companies left a mark on Swedish business. In many ways, they are contrasts as individuals. Douglas is impulsive and has strong opinions that he readily expresses. Schörling is calm and thoughtful. But not when it comes to business, where they strive in the same direction. Their contrasting personalities provided dynamic collaboration that led to one of the major stock market successes of the 1990s when Securitas conquered the world. This is how Bengt Ericson describes Schörling’s and Douglas’s collaboration in the book The New Upper Class from 2010."

"In the business press, Melker Schörling is most often described as a major shareholder and investor with a focus on large wealth. It is easy to forget that he had nearly two decades of operational experience in Swedish industry and service behind him when the main owner Gustaf Douglas wanted to engage him as CEO of the troubled security company Securitas. He was a sought-after CEO at that time.”"

"“I decided quite early on to become financially independent, remembering my father’s words. At home, money had been a scarce resource and it gave me three options: to win the lottery, to try to make some stock deals, or to become a co-owner in a good company. It became a combination of the latter two. Before I joined Securitas, I had made several good stock deals,” he said in an interview with Veckans Affärer in 2006."

"Gustaf Douglas only wanted to part with 10 percent of the shares, but Melker Schörling wanted 25. They met halfway. After a well-conducted negotiation, Schörling paid 25 million SEK for 17.5 percent of the company’s share capital. Schörling had some money after a few successful stock investments, but he borrowed most of the purchase price for the shares in Securitas from the bank."

"Revenue growth, improved results, cost control, and international expansion became trademarks of Schörling and Douglas. As long as the company develops, the value of the owners’ holdings also increases. Melker Schörling was the driving force behind Securitas’s international expansion and the company became enormously successful for a Swedish-owned service company. Melker Schörling stepped down from the chairmanship at Securitas in the spring of 2016 after thirty years with the company. The new chairman is Marie Ehrling."

"Melker Schörling has fundamentally worked in the same way in MSAB as he did at the beginning of his career as CEO and major owner of Securitas and owner of Assa Abloy. Through his own company, he has invested in Swedish-owned quality companies that have had the potential to develop and grow internationally. He wants to have significant influence in the companies in which he invests. When the company grows and makes money with global risk distribution, it is not only good for the company but also for the owner. If value is created in the company, it also creates value for the shareholders. And capital in the form of dividends."

"Everyday life as a farmer’s son ended already at the age of 15. The father thought that the brother was more suitable as a farmer and handed over the farm to him. Melker Schörling became an economist at the School of Business, Economics, and Law in Gothenburg instead, after a technical high school in Örebro. He started by acquiring solid industrial experience before making the deal of his life with Gustaf Douglas during the crisis years following the prosperous 1980s. Schörling entered at the right level when he became both CEO and owner of Securitas—and that was something he had consciously aimed for. The investment in Securitas, and several successful deals that followed the first in 1987, meant that the goal of becoming financially independent was realized faster than planned."

"Melker Schörling has a well-documented ability to choose the right people to have in his business environment. Among the selected was Thomas Berglund for a long time, who succeeded Schörling as CEO when he became chairman of Securitas, but he lost his CEO position after the company’s weak performance in the USA. After that, he disappeared from the picture. Carl-Henric Svanberg and Ola Rollén have long been engaged in Schörling’s sphere of influence. Schörling is evidently long-term in both business and relationships."

"As soon as a year after the stock listing of Securitas, Melker Schörling bought the Edeby manor by Lake Båven outside Norrköping in 1992 for 32 million kronor. The area was close to 3,200 hectares at the time of acquisition, mostly forest. Schörling has gradually bought more land since then and is described by Forbes as one of Sweden’s largest landowners."

"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."

"In the group “owners of flesh and blood” are also included others with inherited fortunes, the heavyweight Fredrik Lundberg, as well as a number of medium-sized, more unknown families whose main wealth consists of the family company. To these is added a handful of new active capitalists such as Gustaf Douglas, Melker Schörling, Rune Andersson, and Carl Bennet. They have built their corporate groups themselves and became rich in connection with the historic stock market boom of the 1980s and the later part of the 1990s. Bennet bought Getinge from Electrolux and listed it on the stock exchange, Schörling laid the foundation for his corporate group when, as CEO, he was allowed to buy 20 percent of Securitas before it was listed. Securitas also helped make Douglas rich, and Rune Andersson, as CEO of the listed company Trelleborg, bought shares there. With luck, skill, timing, and some loans, they have built their empires. Each of them constitutes a force in Swedish business, with their opinions and their capital. Carl Bennet has good contacts in politics, mainly with the Social Democrats, and Gustaf Douglas sits on the Moderate Party’s executive committee."

"My idea was to try to gain control over the Chest's holdings in Boliden, Ahlsell, and the security company Securitas, and to acquire a large ownership in Trelleborg. We were not so interested in the other parts. Behind the plan lay an analysis and a belief that true long-term value creation must have its basis in Swedish industrial companies. The belief in the future of Swedish industry was an opinion I had the opportunity to express in several newspaper interviews, which provided good headlines in the 1980s environment where much was about real estate and "quick deals.""

"My analyses of the prospective companies gave me a wish list. We wanted an ownership position in the rubber company Trelleborg for its stable operations, and therefore good dividends, to live on, furthermore the undervalued Boliden and Ahlsell to turn them around, and the majority of the security company Securitas for future long-term development. It would also be good to have an option on the skilled textile company Almedahl-Dalsjöfors. We also wanted a debenture to manage the financing. We would release all shares in Herakles, which essentially then became a cash reserve, or as Robert Weil's partner and CEO of Proventus, Gabriel Urwitz, put it: a financial muscle. We would not argue with each other going forward."

"In addition to the "heavy holdings" in Trelleborg, Boliden, and Securitas, Hevea had also acquired a significant ownership in the diversified investment company Almedahl-Dalsjöfors, with textile and other operations in subsidiaries and a stock portfolio. It seemed rather dull, but the CEO, Göran Sundblad, probably thought I should take a closer look at the company. We obtained two board positions and began to investigate. The more we saw, the more enamored we became. Particularly, the textile manager Göran Wirenstam immediately sparked our strong interest. He had spent his entire life working in constant challenging conditions and managed to defy the textile crisis that had virtually wiped out the entire industry in Sweden. Through continuous restructuring, wise investments, and constant adaptation upwards in the value chain, he had managed to retain manufacturing in Sweden. It was an incredible survival ability, and the company had always been profitable."

"What distinguishes these leaders, among other things, is an almost supernatural ability to understand and develop the culture that exists in a company. They listen to it and become catalysts. As owners, it is important to capture those who have this catalytic ability. They are unique in being able to unleash the creative in the company and create confidence. It is difficult to move forward if many employees worry about not being on board. These leaders know that self-esteem, being seen, and feeling needed are powerful human drives and cornerstones in the culture that require respect and understanding from everyone all the way up to the owners. I always see strong culture in companies that are doing well. In Securitas, it existed even before the successes came, but it was somewhat sidelined in the security guards. Melker Schörling's crucial contribution was that as CEO he unleashed this culture, aligned the organization with the culture, and made people grow. It became a company where people talked about values and principles. When the company's management fixed and highlighted them, conditions for rapid growth were created. In this belief in people, Latour's employees grow, and so do I."

"It took a few years before Securitas was ready to step outside Sweden, due to the fact that the operations were not sufficiently focused on security, the services not sufficiently defined, and the management not well synchronized but rather uneven in terms of competence for, among other things, foreign expansion. It also took quite some time before Assa Abloy, our global lock company, was in shape for internationalization, as well as the lighting company Fagerhult and the consulting company Sweco in infrastructure and urban planning."

"That employees should be compensated according to their importance is an opinion I have long had to fight for. Especially one shareholder was quite upset over what they considered a terrible deal when Melker Schörling negotiated the right to buy 9.9 percent of Securitas with the option for more when I appointed him as CEO of the group. I have found it very difficult, as the main owner, to be moved by this concern for my own best interest that the shareholders showed me then. Instead, I have rejoiced over one of the best decisions I have made in my life. As the main owner, I have always advocated for significant shareholding for the CEOs of the companies and have facilitated such risk-taking on commercial terms. Then it is a given that Latour conforms to the norms applied by Swedish listed companies, including through the Swedish Corporate Governance Code, regarding the processes for compensation."

"The entire facade is covered by a gigantic KENZO banner. KENZO is known for its vibrant patterns and for mixing luxurious fashion with youthful streetwear, which has been highlighted in the massive pre-advertising. Just inside the entrance doors, about forty H&M employees, mostly young women, dance to the music like a gospel choir, doing the wave, clapping their hands over their heads and chanting in chorus: – KENZO, KENZO, KENZO! As the clock approaches nine, the intensity increases. The staff counts down: – 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Exactly at the stroke of the hour, the Securitas guards lift the barriers. Customers are flooding into the store where t-shirts, tops, dresses, and caps in KENZO's plaid pattern await."