Ratos acquires Speed Group

Speed Group, based in the south west of Sweden with head offices in Borås, employs around 900 people. The company offers flexible services and customer adapted solutions, ranging from traditional staffing of warehouses to full takeovers of the whole value chain in logistics and production. Valentum advised the owners of Speed Group on the sale to Ratos AB. The enterprise value of the company amounted to SEK 450 million.

Speed Group was founded in 2004 and is currently owned by the founders, Jarl Ternander and Daniel Johansson, together with Jesper Anderson and CEO Catrin Wirfalk. The business has grown successfully and is today one of Sweden’s leading service providers in its market segment.

The demand for efficient logistical services is steadily increasing as the e-commerce market grows, warehouses are being centralised to strategic locations and as the logistics sector is getting increasingly complex. This in combination with a growing need for flexible solutions in the staffing sector, gives Speed Group a competitive advantage in an interesting niche market. Speed Group has experienced an average organic growth of around 30% annually and has managed to maintain a high profitability.

“We are happy to have found a strong Swedish partner. With an industrial background stretching back 150 years, I’m convinced Ratos shares our values and will contribute with competence, long-term goals and a wide network. Together we will continue to grow and strive to meet our customers’ needs for flexible and efficient solutions”, says Catrin Wirfalk, CEO at Speed Group.