Procuritas’ Polarn O. Pyret appoints new Chairperson

Procuritas Capital Investors VI (“Procuritas”), the private equity investor focused on investing in and growing Nordic mid-market companies, today announces that it has appointed Arja Taaveniku as the new Chairperson of its portfolio company Polarn O. Pyret, the iconic Swedish children’s clothing brand.

Arja joins with extensive experience from her long career in international retail with companies such as IKEA and Kingfisher. She currently serves on the Boards of Dunelm plc, Nobia Group, and Handelsbanken Group and is Chairman of the Board of Svenska Handelsfastigheter. As well as working in various roles at IKEA and Kingfisher, she was CEO of Ikano Group, an international group with activities in banking, real estate, insurance, and retail..

With its passion for growing strong sustainable businesses, Procuritas seeks to accelerate the development of Polarn O. Pyret through transforming and digitalizing its omnichannel business. At the same time it is strengthening Polarn’s leading position in top-quality clothing that can be passed on or sold second hand to new users when outgrown. The new Fall 2021 collections have received overwhelmingly positive customer feedback with August sales increasing almost 50% year-on-year.

“We are delighted to have appointed someone with Arja’s calibre to chair Polarn O. Pyret. This is a testimony to Polarn’s fantastic brand and important quest to push the boundaries for what is real sustainability in the clothing industry. As we see it, slow fashion and quality is the inevitable solution to today’s unsustainable consumption. We look forward to continuing to build the business over the coming years,” commented Johan Conradsson, Co-Managing Partner, Procuritas.

Arja Taaveniku, Chair of Polarn O Pyret, commented, “I look forward to working with Procuritas and the team at Polarn O. Pyret to develop the market for high quality children’s clothing in a rapidly changing retail environment, as well as growing the international footprint and reputation of the company.”