Willis Towers Watson sells Swedish broker to PE firm

Willis Towers Watson is selling its Swedish broker Max Matthiessen to private equity firm Nordic Capital for an undisclosed sum, in a bid to scale up the company's operations, product innovation and accelerate its organic as well as acquisitive growth.

Headquartered in Stockholm, Max Matthiessen is a financial advisor within pensions, insurance and investment in the Nordic region. The company was founded in 1889 and has been active in the insurance sector for more than 130 years.

Nordic Capital is an investor in the financial services sector and is said to have a deep understanding of the Nordic financial advice and savings markets. By investing in Max Matthiessen’s product development and enhancing its organisational capacity, Nordic Capital intends to support the company’s customer offering and its next phase of sustainable growth and innovation.

"The joint focus will be on scaling Max Matthiessen’s operations and investing in organic as well as acquisitive growth," said Christian Frick, partner and head of financial services, Nordic Capital Advisors. "Together with the Company, Nordic Capital will support continued product innovation to the benefit of the customers and pension savers."

Johan Forsgård, head of Nordics, Willis Towers Watson said: "We are very proud of what Max Matthiessen has accomplished and are confident that Max Matthiessen will continue to grow and expand their capabilities in order to deliver first-class client solutions with Nordic Capital as the new owner. Willis Towers Watson and Max Matthiessen will have ongoing relationships in certain aspects of the business where we remain closely aligned and we look forward to continuing to work together."

Bo Ågren, CEO of Max Matthiessen, added: "We are excited to partner with Nordic Capital for the next chapter of Max Matthiessen’s development. We are wholly aligned when it comes to our strategic vision. Together, we will be able to accelerate our growth by continuing to provide the best financial advice as one of the leading financial advisors and by developing and expanding our product portfolio further. Nordic Capital has a great strategic approach and deep experience across our sector. They have a strong history of growing companies and we look forward to leveraging Nordic Capital’s expertise in the next phase of our development."