by Elsebeth Lohfert
Danish wine company Kjær & Sommerfeldt has been sold to two Danes. It sale follows a restructure of Pernod Ricard’s Danish operation after its takeover of the V&S Group in July of this year. The buyers of Kjær & Sommerfeldt are former employees, including CEO Mads Stensgaard, along with two external investors, Henrik Pedersen and Niels Boel Sørensen. by Elsebeth Lohfert
Danish wine company Kjær & Sommerfeldt has been sold to two Danes. It sale follows a restructure of Pernod Ricard’s Danish operation after its takeover of the V&S Group in July of this year. The buyers of Kjær & Sommerfeldt are former employees, including CEO Mads Stensgaard, along with two external investors, Henrik Pedersen and Niels Boel Sørensen.
The takeover takes effect on 1 November 2008, at which time Mads Steensgaard will continue as CEO. Having been part of a big international group since 2001, when Kjær & Sommerfeldt was bought by the V&S Group, Steensgaard says he is now looking forward to develop the company "with the freedom it gives to be on your own”.
Kjær & Sommerfeldt was established in 1875, when it sold fine wine to the gentry and other citizens of Copenhagen. Their famous shop opened in the centre of Copenhagen in 1928, and you can still find old Bordeaux being sold there at a fair price.
Today, Kjær & Sommerfeldt employs 35 people, working with 1500 horeca customers and 1200 business-to-business relationships, adding up to a yearly turnover of 110m DKK ($18.9m) .
