Aritmos

Following a strategic reorientation during the 1980s, Aritmos had been transformed from a Swedish food company into an international sports and leisure group. In 1993, the Aritmos group consisted primarily of

Puma – a German athletic footwear company,
Etonic – a US golf shoe and athletic footwear company,
Tretorn – a tennis ball, rubber boot and shoe company,
Monark – a Swedish bicycle company,
Stiga – a Swedish lawn-mower company, and
Abu Garcia – a Swedish/US fishing equipment company.

All the companies possessed strong brand names in the sports and leisure sector. But due to accelerating losses, Aritmos had seen its share price drop more than 50% in twelve months. A lack of operational and strategic direction was obvious. Proventus conducted a comprehensive analysis of the group and concluded that significant values could be generated from an operationally streamlined and strategically focused structure.

Proventus acquired 44% of Aritmos in February 1993 in a block trade in combination with simultaneous market purchases. Proventus then applied the first measure to reverse the negative earnings trend of Aritmos by appointing a new president and CEO. Proventus and the company’s new management initiated a comprehensive restructuring program and installed new management in the subsidiaries. Business concepts were redefined and individual strategic plans were formulated with the aim of reversing the negative trends and building platforms for future growth in all subsidiaries. By 1994, all but one of the subsidiaries had returned to profitability; a year later, all of them were profitable.

Following the turnaround, two of the subsidiares, Monark and Stiga were merged. The new entity, Monark Stiga, and Abu Garcia, were spun-off to the shareholders and listed separately on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Following the spin-off, Proventus acquired 100% of the remaining Aritmos, then consisting of Puma, Etonic and Tretorn. Subsequently, the holdings in Monark Stiga and Abu Garcia were sold in two separate transactions. Monark Stiga was sold to an entrepreneur in the industry and Abu Garcia to a US industrial buyer. In 1996, after further operational improvements, Etonic was sold to a US industrial buyer.