Sverica was Founded to Operate Businesses
Sverica International was founded in 1993 by Gunnar Bjorklund, Alessandro Mina and Martin Steber. They recognized an opportunity to acquire middle-market companies that were well positioned to grow in their markets but required a management catalyst to enhance performance. The team felt that they could be that catalyst by bringing to bear their professional management skills through active management of these companies. Based on this ideology Sverica was initially designed under the “search fund” model whereby equity investors were sought out to invest in this trio (as operators) as they canvassed the US to identify companies that could become leaders in their industry. Sverica created three platform investments under this model which Mr. Bjorklund, Mr. Mina and Mr. Steber ran as CEOs: Automatic Detection Systems, Inc, Camera World and Accudocs.

Transition to a Dedicated Private Equity Fund
After proving out their thesis with the success of these initial investments, the founders decided it was time to change the business model to that of a more traditional private equity investment fund. This structure would allow them to leverage their operational experiences across a broader portfolio of companies by partnering with seasoned executives to take on the day-to-day operating functions. In 2001 Sverica International Fund I-A was raised with over $39MM in committed capital and, along with two parallel funds, invested in six portfolio companies. Sverica International Fund II was closed in 2005 with $123MM of committed capital which was invested in twelve portfolio companies, four of which were subsequently combined. Fundraising of Sverica International Fund III and its parallel fund, Fund III-A, closed in 2008 with over $272MM of combined committed capital from leading institutional and individual investors.

Expansion of Firm Leadership
In 2007, the firm expanded the leadership team with the addition of Frank Young, who formerly was the CEO of Fund I portfolio company PsPrint, as Managing Director. Under Mr. Young’s leadership PsPrint’s revenues quadrupled and cash flows more than tripled. In 2008, Dave Finley joined the team as a Managing Director after serving successfully as President in the turnaround of a manufacturing company in the custom wood products industry.