Explore Equity enters into partnership with Paritee

Explore Equity has partnered with Paritee AS (Paritee) to establish a new European communications agency platform through acquiring and developing national champions in key markets.

Paritee operates at the intersection of marketing, communications and corporate advisory, and was founded in 2021 by Chairman Lars Erik Grønntun, previously Global President of Hill & Knowlton, together with a handful other industry veterans, all active and reinvested in the business. Paritee’s first investment was in Geelmuyden Kiese, Scandinavia’s largest full-service communications agency with 140 employees across offices in Oslo, Stockholm, and Copenhagen.

In connection with Explore’s investment, Paritee will embark on its international growth journey through its acquisition today of Brands2Life, a leading tech-focused strategic communications agency with ca. 200 employees across offices in London, New York, Minneapolis, and San Francisco. The founders and key employees of Brands2Life will reinvest in Paritee and are committed to the jointly developed business plan.

The new agency platform, which has combined net sales of €40m+ and more than 300 employees, will create valuable opportunities both for clients and talent. The strategic focus of the group will be on offering integrated communication services to high-value sectors, such as tech, energy and healthcare. The ambition is to grow Paritee through organic growth initiatives, coupled with selective acquisitions in key EMEA markets.

“Paritee is excited to partner with Explore who bring proven experience in growth through partnerships and building best-in-class professional services firms. Together, we will make Paritee the preferred accelerator of profitable growth for leading corporate communication brands in Europe.” says Lars Erik Grønntun.

“We are very impressed by what Paritee has achieved since its inception in 2021. The partnership marks Explore’s seventh platform investment to date and the third platform in Fund II. It is a testament to the Explore partnership approach to invest in leading growth companies together with existing owners on the back of a jointly developed Value Creation Plan ” says Henrik Lisæth, Partner and Co-Founder, Explore.

For any inquiries, please contact: Henrik Lisæth, hl@exploreequity.com,

ABOUT PARITEE 

Founded in 2021 by Chairman Lars Erik Grønntun, former Global President H+K Strategies, holding company Paritee is run by a handful seasoned agency leaders with an extensive background in the Nordic as well as the global communications industry. Paritee CEO is Jonas Palmqvist, former COO Weber Shandwick EMEA.

Paritee’s mission is to create a new type of EMEA agency network and model for collaboration, a platform; one that invests in and brings together world-class agencies from key markets, while protecting their entrepreneurial ethos, and enables them to co-operate for mutual benefit, providing clients with high-value services and deep sector expertise.  

Paritee operate at the intersection of marketing, communications and corporate advisory, and is positioned particularly towards agencies which lean heavily into transforming and high-value verticals, such as technology, energy, healthcare, mobility and financial services.  

The company completed its first acquisition with Geelmuyden Kiese in 2022, today one of Scandinavia's largest communications agencies with offices in Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm.

Find out more on: www.paritee.com   

ABOUT EXPLORE EQUITY

Explore Equity is a partnership equity growth fund investing in Nordic companies with solid and distinct growth characteristics. Explore seeks to drive value creation together with existing management and partners by leveraging more than 100 years of experience in professional and financial services as well as industrial and consumer product companies.

Inherent in the Explore partnership investing approach is a deep and continuous focus on value creation through operational and strategic levers. This is done through board work and by actively engaging in the development of the company as a partner and advisor. Our competitive advantage is based on specialized sector insights, deep stakeholder alignment and change management experience, and an extensive network throughout the Nordics and globally.

Explore Equity was founded in 2016 by Simen Vier Simensen, with a long background as Senior Partner at McKinsey, and Henrik Lisæth, who has more than 20 years of experience from the Nordic private equity space. Explore Equity has offices in Oslo and Stockholm.

Find out more on: www.exploreequity.com