Danish billionaire Lars Larsen, the founder and owner of Jysk, has purchased  Actona Company, one of northern Europe’s largest furniture companies.

Larsen, who is also known by the nickname Dyne-Larsen for the fortune he made selling bedding and home products out of his Jysk stores, will add Actona to his burgeoning retail empire.

“Actona is a healthy company with strong values, very competent management and a solid organisation,” said Larsen.

 No name change
Actona has a sales portfolio of just over 1 billion kroner and 1,200 employees.

The company will continue to operate as a separate brand, maintaining its name and organisational structure.

The common denominator in Jysk Group is that the companies are wholly or partly owned by Lars Larsen – in other respects they are run as independent brands and organisations. Lars Larsen stresses this will also be the case with Actona.

“Actona is a strong player in the sector – the management know what works for them,” said Larsen.

“They also have a very sensible vision for their future development. As the new majority shareholder, my job is to give them the best conditions for continued growth.”

The deal is conditional on it being approved by the competition authorities.