Driv Kapital enters into partnership with a new group of renowned specialized IT consultancies
Driv Kapital Fund I acquires 38% of the shares in the newly established group consisting of Soco Norge AS, Gnist Consulting AS, Forse.NET AS and Forse Mobil AS. The companies’ founders, management and employees will own the remaining 62%. The partnership involves the creation of a new parent company which will have 100 per cent ownership in all the companies, which until now have been owned by their founders and employees.
SOCO, Gnist, and Forse will keep their individual brands and both management and employees in the respective companies will continue as before. The purpose of the merger is to achieve better customer and user orientation, and to build a close-knit group of specialist environments within the IT consulting industry.
All companies offer consulting services. SOCO specializes in software testing and quality assurance, Gnist in technology management, tech leads, product management and agile coaching, while Forse.NET and Forse Mobil are consulting firms specialized in Microsoft solutions, .NET and mobile development.
The companies are leading specialized consultancies within their field renowned for their non-stop focus on customers, quality and their employees. The companies know each other well and they have already cooperated on projects for joint clients on several occasions.
Due to their customer-centric and quality-focused approach, the companies can show to strong margins and topline growth over time and low employee turnover. By coming together under one common ownership, the group now consists of 133 passionate employees, dedicated to delivering the highest quality to their customers.
We are now bringing together some of Norway's foremost specialist environments under one umbrella. Freedom, flat structure, transparency, and value-based management are what characterize our culture, and we have complementary expertise in digital product development.Marius Mæle, CEO at Soco Norge
The goal is to grow the group into the industry's best in customer and user orientation, and over time, to invite additional complementary companies into the group.
We are looking for ambitious companies that complement our service offerings. For us, people and expertise come first, and we are committed to providing professional breadth and career opportunities for our employees. Our consultants have significant freedom in their everyday work, along with corresponding responsibilities.Marius Mæle, CEO at Soco Norge
About SOCO
SOCO was established in 2012 and is an IT consulting company. The company works with securing IT solutions for its clients by providing consulting services in software testing, including test advisory, test management, functional testing, usability testing, test automation, performance testing, data warehouse testing and security testing. The company also conducts various seminars to provide training in software testing for its clients.
About Gnist
Gnist was established in 2019 and provides consulting services within the areas of agile coaching, product management, project and team management, transformation management and provides advice on the development, implementation and maintenance of technical systems, products and services (tech lead). The company also offers courses in how to design an adaptive organization, as well as role-specific courses.
About Forse.NET
Forse.NET was established in 2014 and is an IT consulting company specialized in the development of various digital solutions based on Microsoft and .NET applications. The company provides development services and advisory-/consulting services for web development within frontend, backend and full stack.
About Forse Mobil
Forse Mobil was established in 2016 and is a company specialized in mobile development. The company develops various app solutions and offers advisory and consultancy services for mobile development within iOS and Android, both frontend and backend.
About Driv Kapital
Driv Kapital is an investment firm with a modern approach to Private Equity, seeking meaningful, long-term partnerships with driven individuals and organizations within the business services, software and consumer sectors. The investment firm and its employees have a strong track record from scaling small- and medium sized Nordic companies.
In our search for a financial sponsor to facilitate our growth strategy, we were facing major transaction issues we would have had difficulty in handling ourselves. Oaklins proved to be a valuable partner structuring the transaction process, providing needed documentation and analysis. We will not advice any IT entrepreneurs to venture on such a process on their own. It is better to establish a dedicated project team covering all areas of expertise, working closely with their client.Terje Andersen, CEO at Forse Net & Forse Mobil
Oaklins’ team in Norway served as the exclusive financial advisor to the owners of SOCO, Gnist, Forse.NET and Forse Mobil in this transaction.
Talk to our team
Partner
View profile
Partner
View profile
Analyst
View profile
Analyst
View profile