About Polaris
Polaris is an investment company focused on supporting mid-sized companies in the Nordics. We are founded on the belief that the Power of Partnership can help companies realize their full potential.
Through our Nordic roots and relationships, we work closely with our portfolio companies to achieve shared visions and goals. We take pride in having shared this journey with our investors and our many partners – management teams, board members, co-investors, financing institutions and advisors - for more than 25 years.
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Our Focus
Investments in mid-sized companies
At Polaris, we have since 1998 consistently focused on investing in Nordic mid-sized companies. Typically, this means companies with sales from EUR 20m and up to EUR 500m. Our way of working is founded on the belief that the challenges in developing mid-sized companies are unique and require a tailored approach, which we have refined over the past 25 years.
Our Objective
Support companies to develop their potential
Our objective is to invest in mid-sized Nordic companies and be the preferred partner for companies who want to realize their potential.
Irrespective of how we invest, we leverage our long history of working together with mid-sized companies and our shared belief that strong partnerships are the key to support companies in developing their full potential.
Our Approach
Utilizing the Polaris Excellence Model in our work
Through our partnerships based on ambition, trust, and expertise, our approach is to be able to provide hands-on support to the companies we invest in.
Our experience and network have been used to create the Polaris Excellence Model – a structured approach which enables the management of our portfolio companies to execute their ambitions and realize their company’s full potential.
Our strategies
Complementing investment alternatives
To be a relevant partner for a broad range of companies in various situations, we operate several investment strategies who share the same Focus, Objective and Approach. Through our different strategies we can invest in companies with both equity and debt and in both private and publicly listed companies. The strategies are complementary, and they all share and contribute to the common Polaris platform:
PPE
Polaris Private Equity
Private equity strategy targeting majority equity stakes in Nordic mid-sized companies with sales from EUR 20m and up to 300m with the aim to double the size of our portfolio companies over a period of four to seven years.
PFC
Polaris Flexible Capital
Flexible capital strategy offers tailored investment solutions to accommodate specific financing needs in the junior tiers of the capital structure, such as subordinated debt and preferred equity, as well as minority equity positions. The strategy targets Nordic mid-sized companies with an Enterprise Value in excess of EUR 25m over an investment horizon of two to five years.
PPU
Polaris Public Equity
Polaris Public Equity offers active ownership of listed Nordic mid-sized companies through important minority positions in companies with a market capitalization of EUR 50m and up to EUR 400m or more.
Our investors
Polaris was founded in 1998 and since then we have secured close to 2 billion Euros for investments from a broad group of institutional investors in the Nordics and throughout Europe. These investors include insurance companies, financial institutions, pension funds and family offices. In addition, we in the Polaris team, commit our own money to the funds and therefore align our interests with our partners.
Our active funds are shown below:
Some of our investors
A deeper look at Polaris investors
Investors by Industry
Investors by Geography
Polaris History
1998
Polaris was founded in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1998 by Viggo Nedergaard Jensen as the first Managing Partner. The strategy, which remains to this day, was to invest in and develop medium-sized companies in the region. A total of EUR 180m of capital was raised in the same year and the first two investments were made in 1999, Logstor and Louis Poulsen.
The initiative behind the creation of Polaris, and the initial investors, were a group of leading Danish institutions: the leading bank, Danske Bank, the state pension fund ATP, the leading private pension provider PFA and the largest Danish private company A.P Møller – Maersk.
2005
The Øresund-bridge was opened in 2000 and established a closer link between Copenhagen and the southern part of Sweden. Polaris has initially only focused on Denmark but expanded the team with its first Swedish staff and started to invest in Sweden in 2005 with its second fund with EUR 270m of capital. At the end of the year, Polaris had made its first two investments in Sweden, Add Pro and Jetpak, and had a total of eleven platform investments.
2009
Jan Johan Kühl was recruited as the new Managing Partner in 2007 and in 2009, he and the team raised EUR 365m for Polaris’ third fund during the global financial crisis. At that time, Polaris had 11 portfolio companies and 13 employees. Polaris start to organize the first value creation workshops for the management teams in their portfolio companies.
2015
Polaris continues to invest in mid-sized companies and raises EUR 450m to its third fund. At the end of the year, Polaris had 12 portfolio companies and 19 employees. After having executed 26 workshops for its portfolio companies, Polaris structures its support to its portfolio companies in Polaris Excellence Model.
2021
Polaris continues to grow and develop its focus on mid-market companies with its fifth fund with EUR 650m of capital, +40 employees and a portfolio of 17 companies. Through the new fund, Polaris Flexible Capital, Polaris is preparing to broaden its investments in mid-sized companies through minority shareholdings and junior debt.
2023
Polaris celebrates its 25-year anniversary and launches its third strategy for investing in the Nordic mid-market through minority positions in listed companies: Polaris Public Equity.
