News

Owners

In addition to management, board and 23 individuals forming an advisory network to the company, AB Max Sievert is owned by four investors: Ramsbury Invest AB (privately held by the Persson family and the principal shareholder in H&M), The Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund (AP4), IMAS Foundation (sister foundation to INGKA Foundation, owner of the INGKA Group, which in turn owns the majority of the IKEA department stores globally) and Pomonagruppen Invest AB (privately held by the Rapp family).

These owners see long term focus and innovation as critical to sustainable profitable growth.

The long term ownership approach is assured through a shareholders agreement for the company.

Team

The AB Max Sievert team is in place and consists of four full time employees, a board as well as a group of involved co-owners who participate in active ownership of the portfolio companies.

History

AB Max Sievert restarted in 2014 and its business is to a large extent based on the values on which the family business AB Max Sievert, founded in 1882, was built.

Three brothers started three companies

AB Max Sievert was originally founded in 1882 by its namesake, Max Sievert, the oldest of three brothers. He and his younger brothers, Georg and Ernst, moved from their hometown of Zittau in Saxony to Sweden and quickly became Swedish citizens. From Germany they had supplied the growing industrial sector in Sweden, Russia and other countries with German machinery and industrial supplies.

In Sweden they founded three companies together that started, invested in and developed international businesses based in Sweden: the parent company, AB Max Sievert; Sieverts Kabelverk, and AB Alpha. The original headquarters was located at Brunkebergstorg 2, in Stockholm. An oil painting of the building is shown on the first page of this site. The address is now home to the Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank, in a new building.

The common denominator for all three businesses was that they developed and supplied innovative, high-quality products for an international market. Early on the brothers formulated the values that would distinguish the culture: “Hard work – Sensible thrift – Open-mindedness – Steadfast honesty.”

Four generations

The business continued for nearly 100 years and three generations until the late 1970’s. Max was originally CEO. When he died in 1913, Ernst became head of Sieverts Kabelverk. Max’s son Rolf, who had no interest in business, became a nuclear physicist and lent his name to a unit of measurement for radiation, “sievert,” still used around the world today.

Georg was CEO of AB Max Sievert in 1913 -1930, after which his son, Hans Georg, took over. When Hans Georg died in 1965, his son Björn took over. The biggest businesses were sold in 1928 and 1965; see below.

No business was run under the AB Max Sievert name after 1978, until 2014, when it was revived by the fourth generation through Björn’s son Christian, together with several investors. See also Owners.

To see a monograph from AB Max Sievert’s 75th jubilee in 1957, click here (pdf).

Sieverts Kabelverk and LM Ericsson

Sieverts Kabelverk was founded in 1888, initially as a supplier of German cable to the emerging telecom industry, including LM Ericsson and Telegrafverket. The Sievert brothers and Lars Magnus (LM) Ericsson formed a close partnership. Georg and LM later became related through marriage.

A few years after its formation, Sieverts Kabelverk opened its own factory in Sundbyberg, just north of Stockholm. Sundbyberg developed as a city largely thanks to Sievert’s three factories there. Sieverts Kabelverk became one of Europe’s largest cable manufacturers and helped to electrify a large part of the Nordic market with its high-tension cables, not to mention the cables that built the telephony network. Around 1920 Sieverts Kabelverk accounted for a third of the LM Ericsson group’s purchases and LM Ericsson for a third of Sieverts Kabelverk’s sales.

In 1928 LM Ericsson acquired Sieverts Kabelverk and ran it as an independent company under the same name for nearly 60 years until 1980’s, when LM Ericsson changed its name to Ericsson and Sieverts Kabelverk changed its to Ericsson Cables.

AB Alpha – Introduced bakelite in the Nordic countries

AB Alpha also opened a factory in Sundbyberg and manufactured various instruments for the telecom industry, including handsets in bakelite, the forerunner to plastics, which it introduced in the Nordic region. Prior to that, all phones had been made of wood. AB Alpha was acquired in 1928 by LM Ericsson as well.

AB Max Sievert – Machinery dealer and Nobel oil

AB Max Sievert owned and initially started a machinery dealership. In 1888 it introduced a thick catalog with various machines, instruments and supplies. Among other things, it brought mineral oil to Sweden in the 1880s as the exclusive agent for the Nobel Brothers’ oil from Baku.

AB Max Sievert – Blow lamps, Butane stoves, Measurement instruments, Soap dispensers, Distilling apparatuses, Industrial furnaces, Industrial scales…

In addition, the company became a world leader in the manufacture and sale of blow lamps, with its own factory in Sundbyberg. It also developed butane stoves for the consumer market. This part of the business was acquired by Esso in 1965. Soon thereafter Esso also acquired a competitor, Primus, from Bahco and merged the two into Primus-Sievert. Primus focused on the consumer market and Sievert primarily on industry. Both brands still thrive to this day, though under new and separate owners.

To see the monograph from the 100th jubilee of Primus-Sievert in 1982, click here (pdf).

AB Max Sievert also became a leader in industrial furnaces, with its own factory in Ulvsunda, as well as in processing controls, industrial weighing scales, distilling apparatuses and soap dispensers for hospitals, laboratories and public spaces.

AB Max Sievert starts again, 132 Years after its founding

AB Max Sievert had not been in business since the late 1970’s. In 2014, nearly 40 years later, Christian Sievert, through C Sievert Holding AB, and three investors started a new company with the name AB Max Sievert for the same purpose – to develop innovative, profitable businesses based in Sweden and the Nordic region.

While the company and its owners are new, the business takes inspiration from, and builds on, the values that AB Max Sievert rested on for over 130 years. See also “About us”.

About us

A group of companies with sound corporate cultures

AB Max Sievert is a group of well run Swedish and Nordic companies. An active co-owner of companies that strive to be best in class and contribute to their long-term development.

Development in our companies is achieved by ensuring the best customer offering through continuous innovation and improvements, a competitive cost structure and a willingness to grow organically and possibly through acquisitions. One essential to success is to establish and build on sound values and a strong corporate culture.

To develop well over the business cycle, the financial risk in terms of debt should be limited and adapted to the sector and business plan. In this way our companies can grow aggressively whether the economy is growing or contracting.

We are owners without a defined exit horizon. Our return is generated through long-term appreciation and dividends over time.

With the company’s best in mind

Since exits aren’t our goal, what guides us is what is best for the company’s long-term development.

Delivering short-term results is a key to sustainable development. But if short- and long-term interests conflict, we always choose the latter.

We are happy to provide capital for investments and acquisitions that create value. Dividends are taken only to the extent that the capital cannot generate a better return through investments in the business.

Support and match management

Together with the other owners, we work through a small, accomplished board of directors that serves as a sounding board for management. We are careful in delegating responsibilities between the owners, board and management and believe that everyone will thrive if all these groups are well informed.

On the board are individuals whose experience can benefit the company. Directors and management are personally invested in the company in order to share the same view of opportunities and risks as other owners.

Engaged owner

We want to be an engaged owner with a thorough understanding of our companies’ businesses, customers, employees and markets. This is why we won’t spread ourselves too thin, instead focusing on a few holdings, all of which are important to us.

The aim is to know just as much about the companies and their markets as an entrepreneur or family business can about theirs.

Values

Our commitment and the way we treat each other and others are based on four principal values: Drive, Simplicity, Innovation, Teamwork. They are the product of a long tradition at AB Max Sievert dating back over 130 years. See also “History”.

Policies

AB Max Sievert complies with the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investments (PRI).

Links to our Environmental, ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) policy (.PDF – 888kB) and Tax policy (pdf).

Our businesses

Max Sievert is co-owner of six businesses, each with revenue between ~SEK 100-5000 million, with strong market positions, solid international growth and profitability.

Management and board of each company are co-owners.

The six companies:

Convini is leading in Sweden and Germany in food and coffee to offices. In May 2018, Convini acquired Kaffeknappen from Nestlé. In September 2019, Convini entered Germany through the acquisition of How I Like. Coca-Cola’s office coffee business in Sweden was acquired in March 2021 and Hello Fresh Go in Germany in May 2022. Please see www.convini.se.

Regin develops systems and components for control of indoor climate in commercial property. They sell to 90 countries around the globe with subsidiaries in 11. In 2018, Regin has made add-on acquisitions of Reteq in the Netherlands and SBR in France. In May 2022, DEOS in Germany was acquired. Please see www.regingroup.com.

Viken Group is a global leader in cruise ship & yacht design and naval archtecture. The group consists of Tillberg Design of Sweden (TDoS), Thalia (Italy) and Hot Lab (Italy). For further information please see www.vikengroup.se.

Nordic Traction Group is a global leader in traction products (tracks and chains) for forestry och agricultural machines. Please see www.nordictractiongroup.com.

Scila is a global independent leader in developing surveillance systems for exchanges, market participants and regulators. Please see www.scila.se.

Akind (Academic Work, Brights, Crowd Collective & AW Executive Search) is Sweden’s market leader in temporary staffing and recruitment of young white collars in IT, Tech and  Finance. Since several years Akind is also well established in Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Norway and Denmark.

For more information please see akindgroup.com

Våra företag

Sex företag baserade i Norden. Företagen omsätter vardera ~100-5000 mkr, har starka marknadspositioner samt god internationell tillväxt och lönsamhet.

I samtliga företag är ledning och styrelse delägare.

Våra sex företag:

Convini är ledande i Sverige och Tyskland på mat och dryck till kontor. Convini förvärvade i maj 2018 Kaffeknappen från Nestlé. I september 2019 gick Convini in i Tyskland genom förvärvet av How I Like. Coca-Colas kontorskaffe-verksamhet i Sverige förvärvades i mars 2021 och Hello Fresh Go i Tyskland i maj 2022. Se www.convini.se.

Regin utvecklar system och komponenter för styrning av inomhusklimat i kommersiella fastigheter. Man säljer till 90 länder och har dotterbolag i 11. 2018 har tilläggsförvärv gjorts av Reteq i Holland och SBR i Frankrike. I maj 2022 förvärvades DEOS i Tyskland. Se www.regingroup.com.

Viken Group är global ledare inom design och marin konstruktion av kryssningsfartyg och yachts. Gruppen består av Tillberg Design of Sweden (TDoS), Thalia (Italien) och Hot Lab (Italien). Se www.vikengroup.se.

Nordic Traction Group är världsledande inom slirskydd (band och kedjor) till skogs- och jordbruksmaskiner. Se www.nordictractiongroup.com.

Scila är en världsledande, oberoende utvecklare av övervakningssystem för handelsplatser, marknadsaktörer och regulatoriska myndigheter. Se www.scila.se.

Akind (Academic Work, Brights, Crowd Collective & AW Executive Search) är ledande i Sverige inom uthyrning och rekrytering av unga akademiker inom IT, tech och finans. Akind är sedan ett antal år verksamt även i Tyskland, Schweiz, Finland, Norge och Danmark.

För mer information v.v. se akindgroup.com

Ägare

Förutom av ledningen, styrelsen och 23 rådgivande personer i ett nätverk kring bolaget ägs AB Max Sievert av fyra större ägare: Ramsbury Invest AB (familjen Perssons ägarbolag till H&M), svenska pensionsfonden Fjärde AP-fonden, stiftelsen IMAS Foundation (systerstiftelse till INGKA Foundation, ägare till INGKA Group, som i sin tur äger majoriteten av IKEAs varuhus globalt) samt Pomonagruppen Invest AB (familjen Rapp).

Dessa ägare ser långsiktighet och innovation i våra företag som förutsättningar för uthållig lönsam tillväxt.

Den långsiktiga ägarinriktningen är säkerställd genom ett ägaravtal för företaget.

Team

Teamet på AB Max Sievert består av fyra fast anställda, en styrelse samt engagerade delägare som deltar i ägarfunktionen i portföljföretagen.

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