We believe in long-term investing and are intricately involved in all aspects of a business. We always take a seat on the board of the funds’ key portfolio companies and work in close cooperation with company management.
Although Verdane is one of the largest investment groups in the Nordic region, we are still small enough to work as a single team and deploy the best resources to meet each challenge. The companies we advise have the talents and skills of our entire team at their disposal.
Business building expertise
Perhaps the most important contributions we make to our portfolio companies are as skilled, seasoned business builders and investors who have learned from both our successes and our failures. We typically help with:
Strategy
Together with management, our professionals examine the external possibilities and threats in the market and work to find the appropriate strategy for each company within the constraints of its resources. For a young company the challenge is often to anticipate future market trends and position the company correctly. For mature businesses repositioning is often necessary in order to secure a better competitive position. We also help companies identify, pursue and execute non-organic growth opportunities.
Operations
We often help companies achieve smooth and efficient operations. This may entail improving supply-chain management and allocating resources optimally, or advising on issues relating to offshoring and outsourcing.
Sales and Marketing
We have extensive experience in establishing sales channel partnerships and structuring sales force incentive programmes, and often offer assistance in these areas. We also help with positioning products in the market and managing product life cycles.
Finance
We help companies establish the most effective capital structure to fund their mid-to-long-term growth and expansion plans. For a young company aligning long-term funding with its business plan is critical. More mature businesses can often take on more debt, boosting return on equity. We also help companies secure appropriately flexible liquidity reserves to buffer against unforeseen events that may arise.
Extensive network
Our professionals all have strong international and Nordic networks. We can facilitate introductions to potential industrial, commercial or channel partners, key management hires, board members and local advisors in new regions.
Significant capital is often required to unlock potential and scale internationally. We work with, and regularly help companies raise capital from, leading international venture capital and private equity companies in Scandinavia, Europe and the USA.
International perspective
All our investment professionals have extensive international experience. While the companies we work with are usually Nordic, operational and investment models in most industries are becoming global, and growing companies must increasingly operate across international borders. We help many companies scale internationally and identify growth opportunities outside their established geographic regions.
Exit expertise
Exit strategy is essential to what we do. By exit we mean the eventual sale of our fund’s stake in a company via a trade sale of the company, an initial public offering or, in some cases, the sale of our holding to new owners. Aligning stakeholders’ interests through an open dialogue around a timely sale is important for all parties.
Our focus on exit does not mean that we are in for quick returns on our investments. Exit focus means outlining and achieving a business strategy that will position the company for the most successful exit over a five-to-seven-year period.
Our professionals are experienced in timing, structuring and executing exit events. More than any other Nordic player in our field, we have helped companies in a variety of sectors achieve, successful exits. We have advised on over 100 industrial exits including 16 IPOs, three of which were on NASDAQ. Although essential, the exit is only a small part of the story – the day-to-day work leading up to exit is where value is created.
