Summa Equity acquires Holdbart, Norway’s leading surplus food retailer

Through the acquisition of Holdbart, Summa Equity enters the rapidly growing surplus food industry.

Oslo 7 May 2021 – Holdbart is a Norwegian fast moving consumer goods retailer reducing food waste by selling affordable surplus food from producers and wholesalers. Holdbart’s products are sold at a discount as they are near or just passed its best-before date, overproduced, seasonal inventory or packaged in a way making the food item not convenient for conventional food retailers to handle. 

– By tackling the problem of food waste, Holdbart was a great fit for Summa Equity – which is investing to solve global challenges and among other things is focusing on resource efficiency.  We are honoured to have been chosen by Holdbart’s founders to partner for the next and exciting phase of the company’s development, says Martin Gjølme, Partner at Summa Equity.

In Norway alone, 417k tons of food, or about 80 kg per capita, is wasted each year. This represents about NOK 20bn in lost monetary value and 1.26m tons of CO2 – about the same emissions as the city of Oslo produces in a year.[1] The issue is also addressed by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), #2 (zero hunger) and #12 (responsible consumption and production).

– A large portion of the food waste (80k tons) is generated by the wholesale and food industry. Edible food will be sold through Holdbart rather than being discarded – for the benefit of the environment, our suppliers that get compensated and the conscious customers that get access to affordable food, says Marius Bengston, Principal at Summa.

Holdbart was founded in 2015 by Trond J. Laeng and Thor Johansen, both with long careers in the Norwegian retail and convenience industry. Since then, eight physical Holdbart outlets have been established in the larger Oslo area, as well as in Arendal, Skien, Stavanger and Trondheim. Holdbart also has its own online grocery store.

– We are pleased to get Summa Equity on board. Their vision of "turning challenges in society into opportunities and solutions," is exactly what we want to achieve. They will provide the knowledge and capital needed to capture the vast opportunities in the surplus food industry, says Thor Johansen.

Holdbart’s priorities in the coming period will be continued expansion of outlets, heightened visibility and professionalization of the business and its offerings, as well as developing partnerships with food producers and wholesalers for additional supply of goods.

– Our future success relies on our ability to identify new and maintain existing supplier relationships. Building long-term and large-scale industry collaborations is a win-win.

Therefore, we are very pleased that so many food producers and wholesalers have been supportive of the initiative and let us purchase their goods rather than letting it go to waste, says Trond Laeng.

The two founders and existing management will co-invest with Summa Equity and continue their engagement in the company. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Completion of the transaction is expected in Q2 2021.

For interviews or more information, please contact:

Hannah Gunvor Jacobsen,
Investment Director og Head of IR Summa Equity
+47 93 64 19 60
Hannah.Jacobsen@summaequity.com 

Thor Johansen
+47 907 72 150
thor@holdbart.no

Summa Equity

Summa Equity is a thematic investment firm defined by a purpose-driven team that has come together to invest in companies that address some of our global challenges.
Summa Equity focuses on companies in industries supported by megatrends within three themes: Resource Efficiency, Changing Demographics and Tech-Enabled Business. The firm’s investments across the three themes have the potential for long-term sustainable outperformance because they address some of the social, environmental, and business challenges we need to solve as a society.
Summa Equity have more than SEK 14 billion of assets under management. For further information on Summa Equity, please visit www.summaequity.com.