Today marks the launch of AGRD Partners, a new legal group formed by some of Sweden’s leading business law firms in a joint initiative focused on innovation, technology and smart collaboration to deliver greater value to clients. The group is backed by private equity firm Axcel and aims to grow in Sweden and internationally.

A new challenger has entered the Swedish legal services market. Backed by Axcel, AGRD Partners brings together six leading law firms in an innovative new group, offering corporate and commercial legal advice including M&A, banking and finance, technology, real estate, capital markets, employment law and related fields. With around 250 professionals across nine offices, the group aims to drive progress in a sector long shaped by tradition.

“Business law continues to rely on traditional structures and established ways of working. While there is clear potential to generate business value through smart collaboration and new technology, the industry remains conservative, with tradition often taking precedence. AGRD Partners brings together leading business law firms with a strong focus on innovation, aiming to narrow the gap between client needs of the future and what the market typically delivers,” says Maria-Pia Hope, Chair of the Board at AGRD Partners.

A coalition of six leading firms
The six law firms that have come together to form AGRD Partners are Allié, Born, Morris Law, Next, Synch and TM & Partners. The firms will collaborate closely to implement technological innovation, skills development, and new client offerings across the group. Each firm will retain its name and continue operating independently, while joint initiatives will be carried out under the AGRD Partners platform.

A central management team and board are now being formed to reflect the group’s ambition and respond to a rapidly changing legal landscape. The board is chaired by Maria-Pia Hope, who brings decades of leadership experience and industry insight, most recently as Managing Partner at Vinge.

The legal sector is undergoing a shift driven by evolving client needs and technological advancements. For business law firms, private equity ownership offers a model for navigating and seizing the opportunities of this evolving landscape.

“With AGRD Partners, we see an opportunity to shape the future of business law in Sweden and beyond. There is a growing international trend of external capital and new strategic ownership reshaping and strengthening the legal sector, much like developments in the audit sector. By bringing together several of Sweden’s top business law firms and enabling substantial structural investments, we are creating a powerful partnership with the potential to transform the business law landscape in Sweden,” says Axcel Partner Björn Larsson.

Modernising legal services outside traditional frameworks
Unlike in countries such as the UK, Swedish regulations restrict law firms from accepting external capital. As a result, lawyers within AGRD Partners who are currently members of the Swedish Bar Association will resign their membership to allow for external ownership, long-term investment and innovation.

“The decision to leave the Bar Association does not reflect any criticism and is solely a result of Swedish regulatory requirements. To ensure the high standard of service expected from top-tier business lawyers, the firms within AGRD Partners will instead adhere to an extensive, newly developed Code of Conduct,” says Maria-Pia Hope.

For more information, please contact:
Safa Mahmoudi
Managing Partner
E-mail: safa.mahmoudi@tmpartners.se
Phone: +46 76 00 283 25

About AGRD Partners


AGRD Partners is an alliance of six of Sweden’s leading business law firms: Allié, Born, Morris Law, Next, Synch and TM & Partners. By combining deep industry expertise with a shared commitment to innovation, technology and strategic investments, we strengthen our ability to deliver legal services of the highest quality. AGRD Partners brings together the resources and vision to reshape business law.

Read more about AGRD HERE

Bill Kronqvist has joined Törngren Magnell’s Restructuring and Insolvency Department, effective as of 1 May 2020. The recruitment is another step in Törngren Magnell’s continuous work in forming the law firm of the future in a long-term and sustainable way, offering relevant services meeting clients’ need.

Bill has a broad business law background with a special focus on insolvency and restructuring issues. Bill has acted as a bankruptcy trustee and administrator of company reorganisations in a large number of cases, where some of the best known are Northland Resources and HQ AB. He has also worked with informal restructurings and refinancings. Additionally, Bill has extensive experience from dispute resolution, where he represents clients in both court and in arbitration proceedings.

Bill’s extensive experience in insolvency law and his experience as bankruptcy trustee and administrator of company reorganisations brings a very strong addition to our offer, not least in relation to our clients within the financial sector, says Peter Törngren, partner and active in Törngren Magnell’s Restructuring and Insolvency Department. We have made a strategic decision to invest long-term in developing our business within the Restructuring and Insolvency Department, which includes an intention to take on assignments as bankruptcy trustee as well as company reorganisations, which we believe is important in order to further strengthen our practice. Our ambition is that the department, currently consisting of six lawyers, shall grow further through external and internal recruitment.

“I am very much looking forward to being involved in developing Törngren Magnell’s business within restructuring and insolvency, not least given the great potential that exists to cooperate with Törngren Magnell’s other departments within transactions and financing”, says Bill Kronqvist. “I believe that we together can build an even stronger team that will be a competitive alternative within the insolvency market, which will bring additional benefits and value to Törngren Magnell’s clients. Moreover, Törngren Magnell has a strong and positive corporate culture that feels modern and which I am very happy to be part of”.

Contact:

Bill Kronqvist, Advokat, Senior Counsel

Kristoffer Stråth, Managing Partner

Per Granström has joined Törngren Magnell’s M&A department as partner, effective as of 1 January 2020.

Per specializes in private M&A, corporate law, joint ventures and investments. His clients include industrials, private equity houses and investment funds. After 20 years at the law firm Delphi, where Per was responsible for its transactions team, Per now joins the firm from Morris Law. Per has over his career led a large number of transactions on the Swedish market in a variety of sectors, including technology, infrastructure and renewable energy and is ranked as a leading lawyer by ranking institutions, including Chambers and Partners.

“At Törngren Magnell I will benefit from a larger and broader platform, which means that I can offer clients the full spectrum of advisory services needed to really add value on today’s transactions market, through a close cooperation with the firm’s experts in financing, capital markets and real estate transactions”, says Per Granström. “But it was the combination of the firm’s in my view healthy and strong corporate culture that was decisive for my choice of Törngren Magnell as my new professional home, not least the firm’s reputation of combining the highest standards of professionalism and quality with values such as respect, openness and diversity, with a significant number of female partners.”

Törngren Magnell has in recent years significantly strengthened its position on the Swedish M&A market and has participated in some of the most notable transactions, eg. AAC Capital’s sale of Envirotainer to Cinven; Norvestor’s sale of Nomor to ServiceMaster; the financial rescue operation and sale of the Ving Group to Strawberry/Stordalen, Altor and TDR Capital; as well as Breakthrough Energy Ventures’ (an investor-led fund with Bill Gates as chairman) investment in Baseload Capital.

“Per’s broad and extensive experience from complex transactions means that we further strengthen our capabilities and capacity within M&A, and we are very glad that Per has chosen to continue his successful career at our firm”, says Sten Hedbäck, partner in Törngren Magnell’s M&A department. “His expertise within the active sectors of infrastructure and energy, most notably renewables, is especially welcome, where he will be an excellent complement to our existing real estate and infrastructure practice.”

Contact:

Per Granström, Partner

Kristoffer Stråth, Managing Partner

Törngren Magnell will assist Europa Capital and NCAP when the famous flagship building drawn by Anders Tengbom on Fleminggatan 20 will undergo a total refurbishment into attractive office spaces. We will provide legal expertise as regards inter alia commercial leases and construction law in this large project that will connect Kungsholmen with and extend Stockholm CBD. For more information, please see press release and interview.

After having assisted Europa Capital and NCAP in the purchase of the property last year, we are very happy that the new owners will continue our co-operation in the leasing and construction phase. This is also an acknowledgement that our strategy to participate in the whole value chain, and not only in transactions, is appreciated by the market, says Safa Mahmoudi (responsible partner).

Earlier in September, Fredrik Gustafsson joined as a new partner at Törngren Magnell to build the Technology practice group. Törngren Magnell has in addition now recruited Erik Woodcock as Senior Counsel.

Fredrik and Erik are specialised in IT related commercial law. Fredrik and Erik have worked together for nearly seven years, most recently at the law firm Kahn Pedersen, and are a welded team. Together they have more than 25 years of experience in IT related commercial law. They have extensive experience of all sorts of IT sourcing transactions, digitalisation projects, GDPR as well as the law surrounding the latest IT trends. Furthermore, Fredrik is one of three in Sweden to be ranked as a ”Next Generation Lawyer” within IT & Telecommunications by The Legal 500.

The recruitment of Fredrik and Erik is part of TM & Parnters investment in IT related commercial law. Fredrik, Erik and Lisa Ericsson will form the core of TM:s Technology group. Lisa has more than ten years of experience in commercial law, has been a member of Törngren Magnell since 2016 and is a specialist within the field of employment related data protection.

”We are experiencing a strong and increasing demand for specialists in IT and GDPR. This is now a core competence in transactions. With the recruitment of Fredrik and Erik, along with the competence we already have, Törngren Magnell has now one of the strongest teams on the market within the field of Technology. We are delighted to have recruited Fredrik and Erik.”

Kristoffer Stråth, Managing Partner.

Törngren Magnell is growing and will keep recruiting junior and senior talents within the field of Technology as well as other areas.

Contact:

Fredrik Gustafsson, Partner

Kristoffer Stråth, Managing Partner