In every moment of major change there is a momentum that must be captured fast. CapMan's CEO Joakim Frimodig sees that the rapid and convincing start of the new business is the key to success.
“The development of specialized high value-add services and the expansion of the customer base are important parts of CapMan’s strategy. CapMan’s objective is to grow wealth management services significantly, now with very scalable solutions also to new client segments”, says Frimodig.
A completely new kind of comprehensive wealth management service offers clients access to the best investment products and a broad understanding of the overall situation of the investor.
CWS offers access to the best public and private managers and instruments, without biases. The House View, a curated assessment of the world of financial markets, is at the centre of the service. Equally essential parts are advanced reporting and analytics as well as visualisation of wealth.
As the separate CWS business begins, CapMan wants to make the most of the momentum of change. A quick start is seen as paramount.
“It’s important that the new organization and operations are quickly visible in everyday life, and things start to happen differently than before”, Frimodig says.
Christian Borgstöm, Managing Partner of CWS, also stresses the need to get moving rapidly. There is a huge demand for the services and customers are already waiting.
“The sooner we get our deck in order, the faster we’ll be able to meet the needs of our customers. In this situation, we cannot do everything at once – we have to do the right things in the right order”, Borgström emphasizes.
During summer of 2020, CWS finalized its vision. There were plenty of ideas, but a systematic approach and structure was lacking.
“With Trailmaker, we built a concrete plan to implement the strategy for the coming years. The Trailmaker process and the external perspective of the facilitator forced us to discuss things together and also made clear to us what kind of competencies we need to strengthen”, Frimodig says.
Borgström's expectations were exceeded for both the Trailmaker process and Traimaker Management View.
“Now we have a concrete tool that brings the big picture to all of us. All key people can follow how things are progressing and what happens next.”
TRAILMAKER is a concept for faster strategy execution:
• Concrete common view and commitment
• Identified capability needs
• Visibility
Valokuitunen aims to be one of the largest fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network owners and operators in Finland and accelerates the roll-out of fibre infrastructure. Kenneth Hedman, CEO of Valokuitunen, emphasizes the importance of optical fiber as a basis for high-quality telecommunications.
“All data connections travel mostly along the fiber-optic cable. Reliable and fast network connections are a core foundation for modern society. For this reason, CapMan and Telia decided to establish its own, independent company for fiber optic construction.”
The optical fiber market in Finland offers an opportunity for growth, but success requires quick decision-making and investments. The business was started at Telia already five years ago, so Valokuitunen had a good starting point for building the strategy. With the help of Trailmaker, the strategy concretized into clear tasks.
“We already had guidelines in place. In the Trailmaker process, we were able to put all thoughts and ideas on the table. In joint sessions between management and the board, we formed a clear plan for how to achieve our goals”, says Hedman.
“First, Trailmaker made us think about the order of priority and secondly make sure things go as planned. Of course, not everything can be done during the first quarter”, Hedman continues.
Trailmaker showed its strength in Valokuitunen – it wasn’t a heavy, months-long strategy process.
“It was a huge benefit that an outsider stepped in and led us through this process. There was no way we ourselves could have gone through such a process in three, four weeks.”
TRAILMAKER is a concept for faster strategy execution:
• Concrete common view and commitment
• Identified capability needs
• Visibility
"Sijoitamme rahastosta startup-vaiheen ohittaneisiin yrityksiin. Yrityksen perustajat voivat jatkaa yrityksensä kasvattamista tilanteessa, jossa yritystä ei vielä kannata myydä. Kasvatamme yrityksen seuraavalle tasolle yhdessä, ja yrittäjä saa pitää määräysvallan", rahastosta vastaava osakas Juha Mikkola CapMan Groupista sanoo.
Growth Equity rahaston sijoittajat ovat muutaman instituution ohella menestyneitä yrittäjätaustaisia yksityishenkilöitä. Monet heistä ovat itse menestyneet yrityksissään CapManin tuella.
"Meillä on sijoittajatiimissä vahva luottamus ja pitkä yhteinen historia. Sijoittajat ovat mukana neuvonantajina ja osallistuvat aktiivisesti kohdeyhtiöiden kehittämiseen", Mikkola sanoo.
Mikkola on seurannut Arctic Securityn yrittäjiä ja liiketoimintaa jo Codenomiconissa, jossa hän oli mukana sijoittajana. Yhdysvalloissa toimiva Synopsys osti Codenomiconin liiketoiminnan kolme vuotta sitten. Uhkatietoon liittyvä liiketoiminta aloitettiin yrittäjävetoisesti Arctic Securityssä loppuvuodesta 2017. CapManin sijoituksen myötä Arctic Security jatkaa tuotekehitystä ja laajentaa kyberuhkien analysointiin liittyvää liiketoimintaa uusiin asiakasryhmiin. Suomessa kehitetyn kyberratkaisun paluu itsenäiseen suomalaiseen yritykseen on vahva kilpailuetu.
"Vuosi on käynnistynyt erinomaisesti, asiakkaamme ovat ottaneet muutokset vastaan innostuneesti ja olemme nopeasti tavoittaneet aivan uusia kansainvälisiä asiakkaita. Tällä hetkellä rekrytoimme sekä Suomessa että eri puolilla maailmaa", Chartier jatkaa.
CapMan Growth Equity tuo kasvaville yrityksille 86 milj. euroa uudentyyppistä kasvurahoitusta, joka sijoittuu venture capital- ja buyout- sijoittamisen väliin.
Halu ja mahdollisuudet kasvaa ovat keskeisiä kriteerejä, kun CapMan etsii ja tutkii sijoituskohteita. CapMan käytti Trailmaker-prosessia Arctic Securityn due diligence -vaiheessa tulevaa kasvupolkua ja johdon kyvykkyyttä testaavana execution DD:nä.
Mikkola on hyödyntänyt Trailmakeria aiemminkin ja arvostaa sen nopeutta ja konkreettista otetta. Trailmaker ei ole filosofinen harjoitus, vaan hyvin konkreettinen työkirja. Työkirja kertoo, mitä milläkin aikataululla täytyy laittaa kuntoon, että strategia toteutuu. Suunnitelma auttaa myös kasvu- polun rahoituksen suunnittelussa.
TRAILMAKER on kotimainen konsepti:
- Testaa ja konkretisoi strategian kaikilla liiketoiminnan osa-alueilla
- Testaa ja konkretisoi strategian toteutukseen tarvittavat resurssit ja kyvykkyyden
- Yhdistää johdon ja omistajien näkemykset kolmessa päivässä
- Muodostaa pysyvän johtamiskäytännön muutoksen läpiviemiseksi
CapMan Infra is a Nordic infrastructure investor with approximately €500 million in assets under management. The private equity expert invests in energy, transportation and telecommunications infrastructure across the Nordics.
2021 saw the purchase of Koiviston Auto, a Finnish bus company in operation since 1928. The family-owned business is the largest bus operator in Finland with a national network of depots and routes, employing over 2,000 people. Turnover in 2020 was around 175 million euros and the transport operator owned a fleet of around 1,000 buses.
Koiviston Auto has two distinct business segments: contract and market-based bus transport. Ville Poukka, CapMan Infra Managing Partner, says that the contract-based urban bus transportation business was particularly attractive.
“We’ve found the contracted public transportation market to be very interesting in the sense that our assets, such as Koiviston Auto, own critical infrastructure and operate them with long-term contracts.
“On the back of the success we’ve had with Norwegian ferry operator Norled, we’ve looked at the bus transportation market across the Nordics. Koiviston Auto was particularly interesting for us because they owned a large fleet of 1000 buses.
“That’s a large asset base and it’s underpinned by inflation-protected and long-term-capacity-based contracts with public transportation authorities.” In the case of Koiviston Auto, the contract-based business represents around 80% of group revenues.
CapMan, says Ville Poukka is an “active owner”, which led to the Nordic investment house requesting the support of Trailmaker immediately after the acquisition of Koiviston Auto. “We are looking at a pace change in the company,” he says, “to bring it to a new level and continue the growth.”
“At CapMan, we worked with Trailmaker before and we knew we were dealing with similar levels of complexity. We wanted to get a handle on the situation and understand Koiviston Auto’s capabilities as quickly as possible to ensure a smooth takeover.
“That’s why we brought Trailmaker in at the entry phase because it’s important to start the work early. Trailmaker is a tool to speed up the process of strategy execution and help get ‘buy in’.
“You’re moving from a ‘business as usual’ situation to driving value and thinking about performance and delivery much more carefully.
“Finding a common strategic view and pushing that change is ongoing, but Trailmaker has helped us establish the initial common view and understand what we agree and disagree on.”
Above all, says Ville Poukka, different types of investment cases require different approaches and CapMan Infra tailors their approach to the asset after the takeover. “Trailmaker helped ensure we took the right approach,” he says.
TRAILMAKER is a concept for faster strategy execution:
• Concrete common view and commitment
• Identified capability needs
• Visibility
Trailmaker has been involved in Koiviston Auto’s strategy execution since the CapMan Infra acquisition and further progress has been made since new CEO Jyrki Vainionpää joined the company 6 months ago.
According to Vainionpää, Trailmaker made a big contribution after CapMan Infra’s initial purchase of Koiviston Auto, which was important for the long-term development of the company’s strategy. “It made the strategy execution process following my arrival faster,” says Vainionpää, explaining that he was able to hit the ground running.
Koiviston Auto, says Vainionpää, has faced big changes this year, switching from a family-owned company to an infrastructure fund owner. But, he says, having the backing of CapMan Infra leaves Koiviston Auto exceptionally well placed to tackle the biggest challenges head on. Challenges, he explains, include electrification of the fleet and improving efficiency and consistency across the group that includes nine operating companies such as Helsingin Bussiliikenne, OnniBus.com, Kuopion Liikenne and Koskilinjat.
In 2022, Koiviston Auto invested 30 million euros in electric buses and charging infrastructure. The electrification of buses is one of the company’s biggest priorities, Vainionpää explains. But “the investment needed to achieve the transformation is very large and few companies are big enough to do this. We are well placed with such an owner, a clear strategy and a good team.”
According to Vainionpää, the asset that Trailmaker brought to the table was the focus required to drive the change. “We were forced to go through things in a structured way. In some ways it’s a highly inflexible process but it worked well for our purposes.”
When you’re the new CEO of a company, says Vainionpää, it’s important to learn, build trust and jointly with the management team create a common vision and goal. “Only after that groundwork, can more detailed execution milestones be defined and consistent execution with real impact be expected. The Trailmaker process helped in building that foundation as well as defining the actual execution milestones.”
Looking to the future, Vainionpää says that one of Koiviston Auto’s focal points will be retaining and attracting employees while strengthening the shift to renewable. “During the Trailmaker process we set a goal to be the best employer in the transport sector and proactively drive towards renewables to cut our CO2 emissions. These are interesting times and it’s a good place to be.
____________
TRAILMAKER is a concept for faster strategy execution:
• Concrete common view and commitment
• Identified capability needs
• Visibility
In Insplan, established in 2015, a strong growth has been successful with an entrepreneur-driven culture – it has grown into a company with a turnover of 4 million euros in five years. The growth target requires a new way of managing.
“Growth requires a professional management team. Increased competence level, new structure and clear responsibilities are the keys to success. We divide our sales operations into four areas in Finland in order to get closer to our customers”, lists Mika Seppänen, Insplan's founder and CEO.
In the culture of the small company, agility and conversation have played a key role.
The same alignment is to be maintained as the company grows. After CapMan's investment, a common vision of the strategy was ensured with the help of Trailmaker.
CapMan has used Trailmaker in its portfolio companies to ensure rapid growth and concretize the implementation of the strategy. The Trailmaker process was new to Insplan's management.
“I was surprised by the functionality and efficiency of the concept. In three days, we made extensive strategic decisions together. The milestones created with Trailmaker ensure we do the right things during the next years. Precise steps clarify and speed up the concrete implementation of the strategy”, says Seppänen.
“The Trailmaker process is clear and structured. It involves management well, so Trailmaker is also an excellent concept to get to know the company and its people in charge while creating a common plan for the future”, says Antti Kummu, Chairman of the Board of Insplan and Partner of CapMan.
According to Kummu, the Trailmaker is well-suited also for small businesses because the process is not too heavy.
“A big part of Trailmaker’s value is that the work focuses on very concrete planning. It is valuable for the management that the process produces a concrete implementation path with concrete steps”, says Kummu.
TRAILMAKER is a concept for faster strategy execution:
• Concrete common view and commitment
• Identified capability needs
• Visibility
CapMan acquired majority ownership in JAM Advisors Oy in 2019. JAM Advisors’ two businesses, wealth management and reporting, are now operated separately. JAY Solutions concentrates on technology-driven reporting, analytics and back office services across the financial services industry.
Reporting business has been growing rapidly in the past years and JAY Solutions aims at continuing the fast growth.
“We operate now as an independent company and that’s why we need a big mindset change. So far, we have focused mainly on back-office and support tasks. It is a new situation for us that we are completely responsible for running the entire business”, says Jani Laitinen, CEO of JAY Solutions.
Business needs to be made scalable – not everything can be customized.Growth goals also require new partnerships with asset managers, a new organizational structure and also internationalization.
“I see JAY Solutions changing from an engine room to a sales focused organization. We need to invest in sales and clarify our target customers and service offering: What we offer and to whom”, says Atte Rissanen, CapMan Director, Strategy and Business Development.
Rissanen and Laitinen say that change requires persistence, constant communication, discipline and a clear, scheduled plan. Trailmaker is used to ensure that the jointly developed strategy is consistently implemented.
“With Trailmaker, we make sure we stay focused and do the right things. Before we started with Trailmaker we had just made key recruitments, and the time was perfect to clarify the vision and the common view”, says Rissanen.
The common view of execution and the concrete implementation path were formed in the Trailmaker process.
“Trailmaker has been really valuable to us. Everyone has a lot to do, so the Trailmaker process helped us use time as efficiently as possible. The process is effectively guided. We got clear milestones and tasks for the near future and the lighthouses for a longer-term game. This strategy execution trail guides us to implement the jointly agreed plans”, says Laitinen.
TRAILMAKER is a concept for faster strategy execution:
• Concrete common view and commitment
• Identified capability needs
• Visibility
According to Pekka Kaivola, chairman of the board at Pharmia, the need for food supplements and healthcare products is growing continuously because of an ageing population. “People want to take good care of themselves, and we see the trend for growing business in this sector. It’s the same for our business customers for whom we produce the products.”
The investment by CapMan Buyout speaks to the fact that this is a growth sector, says Kaivola, who notes that the now majority shareholder sees both domestic and international opportunities ahead. “For CapMan, they will be able to impact the sector overall, via future acquisitions by Pharmia and by utilising their own expertise. The target for Pharmia is maintaining the strong market position in Finland while expanding internationally.”
Petteri Laaksomo, Pharmia CEO, says that the change in ownership is a significant point in the company’s journey. “The transformation that we are doing now is maybe the biggest in the whole history of Pharmia. We are converting from a family-owned company with a proud history to a trajectory that is focused on growth and internationalisation.”
To help with this transformation phase, Trailmaker was invited to join the process. According to Pekka Kaivola, the restructuring of the ownership at Pharmia meant it was essential to revisit the strategies of Pharmia, and to set clear processes for how to go forward with the operations.
“Trailmaker was brought in because it was essential to have support with this critical strategic process and in the execution of the strategy. The crucial element is that we get everyone in the corporation involved in strategy execution. People must share the visions and common goals of the strategies, otherwise they will fail.”
For CEO Laaksomo, one of the reasons for calling on Trailmaker’s expertise was because they could provide the framework for executing the strategy.
“It’s pretty easy to create the strategy; that’s not the big issue,” he says.
“The key issue is how to execute the strategy; how to make it part of the daily management and daily life in a company. Trailmaker is forcing us to think about the exact approach.
“It’s more like a process, than simply a tool to execute strategy. We have been forced to think about the big picture and slice it into small edible parts. Trailmaker has been challenging the steps forward. This process ensures that everyone has a common view on how to go forward, which is pretty important.”
TRAILMAKER is a concept for faster strategy execution:
• Concrete common view and commitment
• Identified capability needs
• Visibility
The investment is the first from CapMan Infra’s second fund. Partner Harri Halonen says the principal objective of the investment is to develop renewable energy projects with an initial focus on solar in Finland. That includes the construction of a solar farm in Utajärvi, which gets underway later this year. Over the next five years the target is to develop enough production to cover the power consumption of over 20,000 households.
The investment to develop solar energy will help improve energy security in the Nordic countries, says Halonen, who adds that Skarta Energy will play an important role in the transition away from fossil fuels. Solar energy has a promising future, he says, noting that it currently only accounts for 0.5% of all electricity produced in Finland. That figure Halonen expects to rise significantly as Finland aims to become free of fossil fuels by 2035.
CapMan Infra Investment Associate Ibrahim Makdessi says that one reason they were impressed by Skarta Energy was “the team’s broad skillset”. CapMan Infra, he says, also saw the advantage of “having a joint venture partner in NYAB which can support the construction of projects.”
Halonen says about Skarta Energy that “local knowledge of the Finnish market is strong in the company. They have a team that know the municipalities and their needs.” He adds that there was certainty in the new venture because of an “impressive project funnel”, explaining that “Skarta’s near-term concrete projects” will go a long way in helping the company achieve its targets.
After signing the joint venture Halonen explains they turned to a tried and trusted friend in the form of Trailmaker to ensure alignment. “Trailmaker gets everyone running in the same direction,” he says. “Trailmaker is very good for accomplishing that. It’s about alignment on the goals, which is extremely important.”
Makdessi agrees, explaining that Trailmaker helped in “hammering down the various goals and strategic choices” that the company needed to make. “The key for us was to agree on different goals for different phases. Trailmaker made sure we achieved that efficiently.”
____________
TRAILMAKER is a concept for faster strategy execution:
• Concrete common view and commitment
• Identified capability needs
• Visibility
