Njord Partners is a London-headquartered investment manager which manages over $1 billion in capital.
Founded in 2013 by former KKR director Jakob Kjellberg and ex-Oaktree Capital executive Arvid Trolle, the firm specialises in providing long-term, flexible capital to companies in financial distress.
Mads Videbæk joined the founders in 2014, followed a year later by turnaround specialist Stewart Higginson, who established the firm’s in-house value creation function.
Njord covers the hospitality and maritime sectors, amongst others, with portfolio companies such as Valiant Pub Company, Ambassador Cruise Line, Red Funnel and Geoquip Marine.
Despite its substantial client base and industry recognition, Njord has maintained a relatively low public profile compared with larger special situations investors. However, the public record shows that it has hired APCO, the PR firm which focuses on reputation management.
As one of the world’s largest PR firms, APCO’s client list has included multinational corporations, governments and politically sensitive organisations and its work has periodically attracted scrutiny.
Most recently, The Guardian wrote that the company had been hired by Labour Together to investigate the origins of reporting into the think tank’s undeclared donations. According to documents seen by the Guardian, what followed was an investigation by APCO into journalists and their sources. The Guardian alleged that APCO compiled personal information and, the outlet claims, erroneously linked several journalists to a hack of the Electoral Commission.
Separately, the Financial Times later highlighted allegations that a senior APCO executive discussed deleting material relating to News UK, whose journalists APCO had investigated, after the company had received legal preservation notices. APCO denied the accusations.
Firms like APCO are rarely engaged without a clear reputation management objective. Irrespective of what prompted Njord’s appointment of APCO, it suggests the company sees value in managing how it is perceived by the media, policymakers and other stakeholders.
In the past, there have been media reports linking Njord Partners to Russian state-owned enterprises through its ownership of RETN, the major international network services provider, founded in Russia. While there is no public indication of the specific reasons for APCO’s appointment, the engagement reflects an awareness of the importance of managing stakeholder perceptions.
