Ratos AB: Lars Nykvist appointed new CEO of Kvdbil

PRESS RELEASE, 20 November 2018

Lars Nykvist has been appointed as the new CEO of Kvdbil, Sweden's largest independent online marketplace offering broker services for second-hand vehicles. Lars most recently served as CEO of Outnorth AB and will assume the position of CEO of Kvdbil today, 20 November. Torbjörn Wik is leaving after three years as CEO of the company.

Lars Nykvist has extensive experience of heading up both B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) operations. He most recently served as CEO of Outnorth AB, the largest e-commerce site and retailer of equipment for outdoor activities in the Nordic region. Lars served as CEO there until the beginning of 2018, having taken the company from sales of about SEK 30m to approximately SEK 430m with slightly more than 80 employees and a market-leading position in its niche.

"Under Torbjörn's management over the past three years, Kvdbil has implemented major changes, including a thorough update of its IT platform to enable growth in the area of private cars, where Kvdbil has now changed to a more distinct consumer brand. The strategy moving forward is focused on increasing consumer business, strengthening the position in company cars and developing Kvdbil's service offering, areas in which Lars has considerable experience. We foresee continued growth potential in Kvdbil's business model and the potential to strengthen the company's market position. I also look forward to following Lars's and the management team's continued work in this area", says Johan Rydmark, Director at Ratos and responsible of Kvdbil.

Kvdbil was acquired in 2010 and is now Sweden's largest independent online marketplace offering broker services for second-hand vehicles. The number of employees amounts to approximately 170 individuals and sales for the rolling 12 months at 30 September 2018 totalled SEK 336m.

For further information, please contact:
Johan Rydmark, Director and responsible of Kvdbil, +46 8 700 17 00
Helene Gustafsson, Head of IR and Press, Ratos, +46 70 868 40 50

Financial calendar from Ratos:
Year-end report 2018                                                15 February 2019
Annual General Meeting                                            8 May 2019

Ratos is an investment company that owns and develops unlisted medium-sized Nordic companies. Our goal as an active owner is to contribute to the long-term and sustainable business development in the companies we invest in and to make value-generating transactions. Ratos's portfolio consists of 12 medium-sized Nordic companies and the largest segments in terms of sales are Construction, Industrials and Consumer goods/retail. Ratos is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and has a total of approximately 12,300 employees.