As the CEO of Martinsson Information Systems, in 2002, I received the board’s approval to carry out an acquisition of one of our major competitors, IMS. The acquisition overnight doubled our size.
In 2004, we acquired Lindahl & Rothoff, adding around 100 more employees.
Not long after that did Atea knock on our door, expressing its intention to acquire Martinsson. That’s what happened, and I was entrusted with leading this merger, which took place in 2005.
Early in 2006, we witnessed the merger of Norwegian Ementor and Danish TopNordic. This meant that in the Nordic market, we had two players of nearly equal size. The combined Ementor/TopNordic and Atea each had revenues of approximately seven billion SEK. Just a few months later, we received the news that Ementor/TopNordic made a bid for Atea. The map of the Nordic IT infrastructure had been completely redrawn within a matter of months!
This acquisition was both offensive and defensive, creating a clear number one in the Nordic market with revenues of 14 billion SEK.
I was entrusted with leading the Swedish unit, which consisted of various companies and cultures, including Martinsson, IMS, Lindahl & Rothoff, Atea, Ementor, and TopNordic. Leading such a company was no easy task… I remember when I informed the board in the fall of 2006 about all the challenges we were facing, and I received the following comment, “Yes, we understand it can be a bit chaotic… but what results will you deliver in Q4…?”
As you may understand, this was a time with a lot of frustration for many employees. We had 6-7 ERP systems running simultaneously, and the heroes in administration had a tough time keeping things in order while we worked day and night to create a functioning organization.
My head was filled with thoughts on how we could get all the employees coming from so many different backgrounds to leave the old behind and find joy and inspiration in the new, exciting company we were building. Somehow, we all had to leave the past behind to embark on a new, thrilling journey – together!
One night, in a taxi during a trip with the group management in Asia, I sat in the back seat with Ib Kunoe, the company’s major shareholder and chairman of the board. At that time, the company was named Atea in Sweden, Ementor in Norway, and TopNordic in Denmark. I said to Ib, “We must have the same name, I don’t care which name you choose, but select a name that applies to all countries so that we can continue to establish ourselves as leaders in the Nordic region and build ONE strong brand.” Ib bought into this reasoning and tasked my colleague Steinar Sønsteby (then CEO for Norway, now Atea CEO) with renaming the entire group to Atea. Steinar accomplished this swiftly and effectively.
Next Friday, I will share one of the most crucial decisions we made that laid the foundation for the successful journey this became…
The Value of Storytelling and Persistence -Section 1
