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FILIP ELIASSON
Business developer taking
companies from
promising to leading
Filip Eliasson has been working on business development at Mellby Gård since
August 2020. After spending nearly six years in Stockholm, he decided it was
time for new challenges at home in Skåne. His job at Mellby Gård combines the
best of both worlds – strategic development of the company’s portfolio, and
hands-on work by providing support on various company-specific issues.
Alongside his work, Filip enjoys spending his free time working
out in a variety of ways, such as weight training, running and
cycling. He also likes spending time with family and friends,
enjoying a nice dinner or an enjoyable activity such as a day in the
countryside or visiting an art exhibition. He and his fiancée are also
busy on various projects at their home, which he finds both relaxing
and instructive.
“The best thing about my job is the variety; having the opportunity
to work with different companies and different industries and develop
them over time. I work with our companies on an operational level, but
I also work with Mellby Gård’s investment strategy on a general level.
As far as the latter is concerned, there’s a bit of a delicate challenge
for us in that we have a strong balance sheet. Taking the Mellby Gård
investment philosophy as our starting point, I’m absolutely sure we
have everything we need to fulfil our investment ambitions, and being
part of this journey is just brilliant.”
As far as Filip is concerned, there are lots of advantages to working at availability by means of smart technologies and solutions. We can really
Mellby Gård. Besides the variety, he highlights Mellby Gård’s strong core
values that the company works with and that permeate it: he feels these
make the job really stimulating. He also perceives enormous strength in
the long-term investment and ownership profile.
“It goes without saying that I really enjoy going to work when I know
we’re doing something great. We have a major impact on society and
welfare as owners of our companies, but we’re humble in that regard
and rarely brag about our contribution. Maybe we could give ourselves
the occasional pat on the back!”
LONG-TERM CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT
“Mellby Gård focuses on long-term ownership and corporate
development, which I think is healthy. We have a different horizon
from lots of other investment companies, which creates different
circumstances for our companies. It can also help make us more
attractive when we talk to entrepreneurs. I reckon most companies
in Sweden know who Mellby Gård are and what we stand for – that
we’re a respected and persevering owner that maintains a long-term
perspective and gives companies every chance to grow.”
Mellby Gård is specifically known for the long-term nature of its
investments. They represent secure, stable ownership and join their
companies in their development. They take companies from promising
to leading, with emphasis on active ownership.
“We don’t generally buy companies with a view to selling them
on. I’m absolutely sure we can go on developing our companies and
making them better and more competitive, given their respective
circumstances and challenges.”
NEW PROJECTS DESPITE THE PANDEMIC
In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 was a year where Mellby
Gård faced many new challenges as companies needed different types
of support in their business transformation. In spite of this, Mellby
Gård has not been resting on its laurels. Instead, the company has
continued to get projects off the ground together with the portfolio
companies. One such example is a start-up initiative that’s aiming to
invest in innovative water treatment solutions. This project is being
run by Mellby Gård colleagues Mikael and Filip together with the
portfolio company Feralco.
“I’m really pleased we’ve formalised this concept. It’s an initiative
offering lots of potential. Access to clean water is a crucial issue on a
global level, and it’s clear that humans need to start managing water
as a finite resource, both now and in the future. We can ensure its
benefit from Feralco’s expertise in this regard when we’re evaluating
companies to invest in. Feralco has built up extensive know-how in
the field of water treatment and water treatment chemicals over time,
along with legislation in the field. Feralco’s know-how in combination
with Mellby Gård’s ability to develop companies makes us a perfect
partner for many entrepreneurs in this industry.”
Filip is also looking forward to 2022, when he hopes the water
initiative will culminate in some exciting investments. He also thinks
it’ll be interesting to monitor the ongoing development of the portfolio
companies as society returns to the new normal in the wake of the
pandemic. He sees a need for greater emphasis on sustainability
issues and continued digitalisation for both companies and investors
in years to come.
“We have to remain humble when it comes to issues such as sustain-
ability and digitalisation and go on working on the basis of our core val-
ues. Our established business logic will guide us in our choice of invest-
ments within the scope of existing businesses as well as in the pursuit
of new acquisitions, and it’ll help us not to fall into the embellishment
trap. Going forward, both sustainability and digitalisation must form an
integral part of every company’s business. This will be key to the value
created for – and demanded by – customers, and hence to companies’
competitiveness as well. In my view, we have an important part to play
in this as owners, together with our companies.”
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