Date
04 Mar 2022Category
Azets and Karabingruppen are pleased to announce the merger of two leaders in their respective fields of technology-enabled business services and management consulting to form one of Norway’s largest business advisory groups, combining the capability to advise, implement and deliver innovative client solutions across a national footprint. The acquisition is Azets’ biggest in the Nordics.
"This is a strategic acquisition and a change of pace in the industry, where a leading accounting player is clearly entering the advisory market. I am very pleased to have Karabingruppen on board in our growth journey. Karabingruppen has built an exceptional reputation with a strong brand in its market segments in Norway and a very solid foundation within its marketplace. They are specialists in their field and like Azets, they have growth ambitions and appreciate customers with high demands for quality of service. These are values that Azets identify with", Runar Leite, Managing Director of Azets Insight Norway, says.
Runar Leite emphasises that the two companies have identified a number of areas of cooperation as well as the potential for building new business areas. Karabingruppen will work closely with the existing advisory community in Azets and optimise the use of resources and share expertise and experience. Going forward, we envisage several areas where we will use and optimise the expertise that already exists across the companies. An example of this would be the potential associated with advisory and technology. With strong owners, there are also good opportunities for further expansion in this area.
Azets buys all the shares in Karabingruppen and the four subsidiaries. Karabingruppen will continue as a separate company under the current brand name. Karabingruppen has 110 staff in offices in Bergen, Oslo, Stavanger and Trondheim that will join forces with Azets’ more than 1,000 employees across 50 locations in Norway, offering an unrivalled reach into the local markets. Having demonstrated impressive growth in excess of 25% per annum, Karabingruppen expects this to accelerate as it is further bolstered by Azets’ depth of resource and proven expertise in the digitisation of clients’ operations, as well as access to its more than 12,000 Norwegian clients.
"Together with our customers, we have created NOK 8.1 billion in documented value since its establishment in 2004. Now we continue the journey with Azets, a technology leader in the industry with big growth ambitions and a strong employee focus. We will bring our proven processes and know-how, whilst Azets will contribute market leading technology, business support services and additional resources, allowing us to continue with the development of innovative solutions and to deliver larger and more complex projects in the future", Ole Øyen, CEO of Karabingruppen, says.
Azets is the international accounting, tax, audit, advisory and business services group with revenues of almost US$700m, backed by one of the most successful private equity investors in Europe, Hg Capital, a highly regarded investor in technology and technology-enabled businesses. Strategic M&A continues to be a fundamental cornerstone of the Azets growth strategy. The acquisition of talented teams like Karabingruppen, not only grows the business, but also opens up exciting opportunities for our people through skill development and collaboration, at the same time adding a wider range of digital and advisory services to benefit our customers.
The acquisition expects to complete on 1 April, pending regulatory approval.
About Azets
Azets is an international accounting, tax, audit, advisory and business services group, with
160 offices across the UK and Europe, over 6,500 employees and 600 Partners.
Azets in Norway has more than 50 offices, over 1,000 employees, more than 12,000 customers, and originates from leading accounting firms all over Norway.
Azets offers services and software in business operations and is a spearhead in digitization and automation of economic processes.
Azets is owned by English private equity fund HgCapital and has a turnover of GBP 505 million.
Azets is present in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the United Kingdom, Estonia, Lithuania and Romania.
About Karabingruppen
Karabingruppen consists of four companies and more than 110 employees with a focus on
improvement, value development and managing benefits on behalf of our customers.
Karabin is the leading improvement company in Norway, measured through documented value
creation. Sans consists of several of the country’s leading UX and service designers with a focus on effect, from insight to delivery. Valent consists of experienced consultants with backgrounds from roles such as CEO, CFO, Controller and Auditor. Impello assists ambitious companies with growth and value development through M&A, strategic and financial advisory.
Karabingruppen had a total turnover of more than 150 MNOK in 2021, divided between Karabin with 103 MNOK, Sans with 24 MNOK, Valent with 14 MNOK and Impello with 22 MNOK.
More information:
Runar Leite, Managing Director / Administrerende Direktør Azets Insight Norway, runar.leite@azets.com, +47 47 20 20 47
Rune Norbakk, CEO of Azets Norway, rune.norbakk@azets.com, +47 91 36 44 30
Ole Øyen, CEO / Konserndirektør Karabingruppen, ole.oyen@karabin.no, +47 906 10 380
Helena Julusmoen, Nordic Marketing and Communication Director Azets, helena.julusmoen@azets.com, +47 975 73 372
