Inwido Emerging as Nordic Giant

With the acquisition of two Norwegian manufacturers, Inwido AB, based in Malmo, Sweden, is emerging as a new leader in the Nordic window and door market. With 14 acquisitions in 2006 alone, the company now operates manufacturing locations in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania and Denmark, and expects 2006 sales of approximately $585 million.

Inwido also acquired three Irish distribution companies in the windows and doors segment—Carlson & Company Ltd., Carlson Contracts Ltd. and Dansk Window Systems Ltd. in 2006. As a result, Inwido says it’s one of the largest suppliers of windows and doors in Europe.

“Our size benefits our customers due to our ability to offer competitive prices as well as the capacity and skill to rapidly develop customized solutions,” says Sven-Gunnar Schough, Inwido’s CEO.

Started with the merger of two Swedish window-manufacturing operations to form the Elite Group, the company was acquired by the Triton private equity group in 2000. Ratos, a publicly traded private equity group based in Sweden, acquired a 95 percent stake in Inwido in 2005, and launched its acquisition strategy to become a market leader in all the Nordic countries.