KKR to aid Söderberg expansion with growth investment

• Söderberg is making a push in Spain and the UK
• KKR has been a minority investor in the business since 2019
• Söderberg has more than £60bn in assets under management and under advice

KKR has made a growth investment in Swedish wealth management and corporate insurance company Söderberg & Partners.

The investment was by a Skr2.3 billion ($215 million; €197 million) share issue. The new capital will be used to support expansion across Söderberg’s markets, with a focus on building on its recent entries into Spain and the UK.

Söderberg was founded in 2004 and has its biggest footprint in the Nordic region and the Netherlands. It has more than 3,000 employees across more than 110 offices, with more than £60 billion ($76.4 billion; €70.1 billion) in assets under management and assets under advice.

“Söderberg & Partners has more than doubled in size since our initial investment in 2019 and we are pleased to make a significant new investment behind this exceptional team and platform,” said Hans Arstad, managing director leading KKR’s European private equity activities across the Nordic region, in a statement. “We believe there is enormous potential for Söderberg & Partners to accelerate its growth in UK, Spain and the rest of Europe by continuing to invest in building its differentiated suite of technology-enabled services and pursuing strategic M&A with leading players in key growth markets.”

The Söderberg founders will remain in control after the share issue, with support from KKR and its other significant minority shareholder, private equity firm TA Associates.

KKR’s new investment was primarily via its European Fund V. The private equity firm is headquartered in New York but said it had been “strengthening its presence and growth ambitions” in the Nordics since launching a new office in Stockholm in June 2021.