The new kings of Nordic private equity
Recent revelations show Axcelтs troubles in finding the right replacement for founding partner Christian Frigast. Mikkel Stern-Peltz provides an overview of the Nordic lines of succession
With age comes wisdom, but in private equity it also comes with questions of succession. As some of the largest Nordic private equity houses move closer to three decades of existence, many of their founding partners have passed 60, and edge closer to 70 years of age.
Most of the large Nordic private equity firms, such as EQT, IK Investment Partners, Accent and Polaris, have seen their founder step aside and the new king ascend the throne (skip to the bottom of this article to check which firms have already undergone the succession process). But Axcel's hunt for a managing partner to replace Christian Frigast (pictured, above), led by Jens Howitz from recruitment consultancy Russell Reynolds has so far been fruitless.
Joachim Sperling, head of corporate affairs at the firm, says Axcel cannot comment on the recruitment process. He does confirm, however, that a deal had been in place before Christmas with Steffen Kragh, CEO of Scandinavian media conglomerate Egmont, but that Kragh ultimately backed out of the deal.
Likewise, it has been reported that headhunters have been busy in London, where Cinven's Søren Christensen, CVC's Søren Vestergaard, Henrik Kraft at KKR, and Blackstone's Jan Nielsen were supposedly targets.
The X(ternal) factor
Though Axcel says it is looking both internally and externally, the pursuit of Kragh and other external candidates shows the GP has chosen to forge a very different path from the big Nordic buyout firms that have already been through the process: IK Investment Partners, EQT, Nordic Capital and Accent have all promoted their new managing partners from within.
However, Danish firm Polaris Private Equity also diverged from the Nordic norm when it opted for Jan Johan Kühl as the managing partner to replace founder Viggo Nedergaard Jensen. Kühl came from a position as group director of roofing and waterproofing company Icopal before taking the reins at Polaris.
Another Danish GP, Maj Invest Equity, also opted for an industrialist as a replacement for its managing partner in 2011, though the firm is much younger than its counterparts and also a subsidiary of a larger investment company.
Having built their firms from the bottom and led them to success, founding partners are often seen as talismanic figures – with a network and a reputation - which helps raise capital, source deals and, in some, cases create an aura of respect around the GP.
While Pandora proved one of the most profitable exits in European private equity history, Axcel has also seen a number of its investments turn sour and had to hand them off – presumably at a loss.
According to unquote" data, Axcel raised funds in 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010. With a new fundraising effort understood to be on the cards, Axcel needs to find an heir to its throne to put investors' minds at ease before fundraising begins. Frigast's replacement must be able to convince LPs that Axcel remains a sound investment and that they are the right person to lead the firm, as well as attract and originate deals.
The outsiders
Private Equity Recruitment managing director Gail McManus says looking outside a firm for a managing partner is rare. "It is unusual to bring somebody in at the managing partner level in that you now have a set of partners who are established in the business, and one would naturally expect the managing partner to come from that group," she says.
McManus says it has to be clear why an external managing partner is a better option than an internal promotion, to assuage the existing partner group because of the effect it has on them
"It has an impact on their carry, it has an impact on their working day and it has an impact on how they are perceived in the wider market," she says.
She notes it is less unusual to bring someone in a few years before the next fundraising cycle, with a view to them eventually becoming managing partner. If Axcel eventually does go down the opposite path, the outcome of its next fundraising campaign should help assess whether or not departing from the norm can pay off.
The new kings

Name: Niklas Sloutski
Position: CEO and partner
Age: 38
Replaced: Jan Ohlsson
Niklas Sloutski joined Accent in 2000 and was just 34 when he replaced founding partner Jan Ohlsson, then 59, in 2010.

Name: Thomas Von Koch
Position: Managing partner
Age: 48
Replaced: Conni Jonsson
Thomas von Koch replaced founding partner Conni Jonsson, 54, in 2014. Von Koch had been part of the team that founded EQT in 1994.

Name: Detlef Dinsel & Christopher Masek (pictured, left)
Position: Managing partners
Age: 54 & 54
Replaced: Björn Savén
Masek and Dinsel took over the Nordics' oldest buyout house, 25-year-old IK Investment Partners, when founder Björn Savén, 64, stepped aside in 2008 to become chairman of IK's board. Dinsel, a german, joined the GP in 1996, while French national Masek joined in 2000.

Name: Erik Holm
Position: Managing partner
Age: 55
Replaced: Lar Tønnesen
Holm joined Maj Invest Equity in 2011 replacing Lars Tønnesen, who had been hired when the GP was founded as a subsidiary of LD Invest - called LD Equity - in 2005.

Name: Kristoffer Melinder & Joakim Karlsson
Position: Managing partners
Age: 43 & 43
Replaced: Robert Andréen & Morgan Olsson
Karlsson and Melinder both joined Nordic Capital in 1998, and took over as managing partners from founders Robert Andréen, 71, and Morgan Olsson, 65, in 2010.

Name: Jan Johan Kühl
Position: Managing partner
Age: 47
Replaced: Viggo Nedergaard Jensen
Kühl joined the Danish GP in 2007, taking over from Viggo Nedergaard Jensen, 66, who had founded Polaris nine years previously.
Founders who have yet to step aside
A 
Name: Harald Mix
Position: Founder and managing partner
Age: 54
Mix founded Altor in 2003 and has not yet aired any thoughts of stepping aside, though he will be 64 at the end of the lifespan of his firm's most recent fund, Altor Fund IV.

Name: Gabriel Urwitz
Position: Founder and managing partner
Age: 65
Urwitz is among the most senior founders of Nordic private equity firms who remains as a managing partner, having founded Segulah in 1994, though nothing has been reported about a potential successor. The GP is currently raising its fifth fund, with a SEK 5.6bn target, expected to close by August.

Name: Frode Strand-Nielsen
Position: Founder and managing partner
Age: 60
FSN last raised a fund in 2013, the SEK 5.25bn FSN Capital IV, but there has been no word of any plans for founder Strand-Nielsen to move from his current position.

Name: Peder Pråhl
Position: Founder and managing partner
Age: 50
London-based Pråhl has been the managing partner of Triton since he founded it alongside Björn Nilsson in 1997, and there is no indication he plans to step aside in the near future. The GP raised its fourth and most recent fund in 2013, closing it on €3.3bn.
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