Last week, I had the privilege of speaking at the Stockholm School of Economics, as part of the Private Capital CFO Forum organised in collaboration with Dr. Patricio Ohle , Founder and Managing Director of FBXperts, Bo Becker, Professor of Finance, SSE and Director of the Swedish house of Finance and Diogo Mendez, Assistant Professor of Finance, SSE.
The event brought together a room full of CFOs, business leaders, and advisors to explore two defining forces reshaping the business landscape:
- Ownership transitions from private to public, public to private equity
- Geopolitical frictions navigating uncertainty, tariffs, supply chain disruption, and macro volatility
My contribution: ‘From Public to Private: Leading Through Ownership Change and Cultural Shift‘
I was privileged to share my personal experience and insights on the importance of change leadership from my time as CHRO at Ahlstrom, during the first years of the company’s transition starting in 2021 from public ownership to private equity under Bain Capital.
This was not simply a change in financial model, it was a full-system shift in culture, leadership, pace, and expectations. For C-level and especially CFOs, these transitions are intense and demanding. They carry the pressure of performance, reporting & analytics and, transformation, all while the team is stretched thin and the organisation’s clock speed doubles overnight.
My core insights
1. Invest in leading yourself first
These shifts can be very demanding. Your resilience will be tested. Make time for reflection, support, and trusted dialogue. And don’t forget to eat well, sleep well and exercise for optimal performance and emotional fitness.
2. Embrace the new clock speed but don’t lose your people in the rush
Private equity introduces a radically different rhythm. Decision-making compresses, execution accelerates, leadership alignment must happen before people are ready. Build in moments for clarity, communication, and recalibration. That’s where transformation becomes sustainable.
3. Be brutally clear on priorities
In PE transitions, not everything can be a priority. Focus on what drives value and truly matters—and communicate it clearly to your team.
4. Lead high performance
As CFOs, create an environment where everyone is accountable for results and excellence is the norm, not the exception.
5. Don’t underestimate change management
People don’t resist change—they resist confusion. Even when the path is uncertain, communicating the big picture, the “why” and “how” creates trust.
6. Remember: this isn’t just a new chapter: it’s a whole new book.
A PE ownership shift doesn’t simply continue the old story. It rewrites the context, the characters, and the pace. Lead accordingly.
Reflections from the broader programme
The day’s agenda delivered a rich combination of macro perspective, operational insight, and leadership experience:
- Carl Rogberg shared his experience and spoke on the transition from private to public, and how that journey reshapes governance and strategic communication.
- Roshan Saldanha deepened the conversation with highlights from recent IPO readiness.
- Alexander Ljungqvist unpacked public equity trends, and capital market shifts.
- Michael Diné laid out the impact of trade friction, tariffs, and FX volatility on European business planning.
- Joakim Sjöblom offered sharp insights into entrepreneurship in the defense sector—a timely convergence of policy, strategy, and sourcing.
- Staffan Hemrå, Sweden’s Ambassador for Strategic Analysis and Planning, gave a geopolitical outlook that reminded all of us: strategy must now account for volatility, not avoid it.
It was a privilege to contribute to this CFO event and to learn from such a thoughtful group of leaders. It provoked active dialogue and appreciation of sharing a true story of concrete insights and examples.
Thank you to Stockholm School of Economics, and to FBXperts, for creating the space for real, unfiltered conversations on what leadership really requires in times of ownership change and geopolitical pressure.
If your organisation is entering a new ownership phase or facing leadership challenges under pressure, we’d be happy to share how we support boards and executive teams at Takko Advisory with strategy, clarity, and humanity at the core.
