Ex-Triton and ex-3i execs launch Nordic fund

Former Triton partner Jan Åkesson and former 3i executive Gustav Bard have teamed up for the launch of a €300 million buyout fund in Scandinavia, according to a source familiar with the matter.  

Adelis Equity Partners will be targeting investments in the manufacturing and business service sectors in the Nordic region, according to PEI's Research & Analytics division.   

Adelis Equity Partners did not respond to a request for comment. 

The pair started Adelis in November last year, according to their LinkedIn pages. Adelis has no website or SEC registration yet, but it has hired Adalbjörn Stefansson as a partner and head of investment relations, according to Stefansson’s LinkedIn page, suggesting the team is keen to connect with LPs. 

The Texas County & District Retirement System is considering investing in Adelis, according to a board resolution about the approval of investments. 

Prior to co-founding Adelis, Åkesson was a partner at Triton Advisors in Stockholm for 11 years. He was also Triton’s chief executive between February 2001 and October 2010, according to his LinkedIn page. 

Bard spent more than a decade at 3i Group, before co-founding Adelis. From April 2004 until November 2011, Bard worked as a managing director at 3i Nordic. From April 2001 until April 2004 he was a managing director at 3i Sweden, according to his LinkedIn page.  

Stefansson also has a background in the buyout industry; he used to be head of private equity at Länsförsäkringar, a Swedish insurer. After that, he became head of buyout fund investments at Skandia Life, a Swedish life insurer, where he was responsible for the buyout programme, before setting up his own consultancy group. 

During this period, he did several private equity related projects, including Skandia Life's acquisition of Skandia Nordic, which was a £2 billion transaction, and the post-merger integration planning for Skandia Life Asset Management, according to his LinkedIn Page.