A 40-year partnership through Drivea's journey from one-person company to Group
A lot can happen in 40 years. What started as a single haulage company grew to include a workshop and another haulage company, as well as several real estate companies. Throughout Drivea's journey, their finances have been managed by the same partner - albeit under different company names. Read how a really strong and long-lasting partnership can grow and flourish over decades.
The story behind Drivea also includes the story of Accountor
Elin Andersen works at the family business Drivea together with her father Klas and uncle Björn. For the past 15 years, Elin has been responsible for the day-to-day bookkeeping of the company. Today, Drivea manages eight companies under a larger Group, but it all started as a one-person company.
In 1984, Klas Andresen started a small haulage company and Handens Bokföringsbyrå AB was given the task of handling the bookkeeping from the start. In 1990, Klas and his brother Björn also started the truck workshop Hylast, and let Handens Bokföringsbyrå - which at the same time changed its name to Anylator - continue to do all the bookkeeping and accounting.
The company continued to grow and in 2000 another haulage company was acquired and Hytrans was formed. In connection with this, a person was hired to take care of the accounting, whose role Elin then came to take over. This meant that Anylator let go of the day-to-day accounting, but continued to take care of financial statements and income tax returns. In 2021, Anylator was acquired by Accountor.
Three dedicated accountants over the years
Today, Accountor still does the financial statements for all of Drivea's companies, as well as group accounting and income tax returns. Throughout the years, Drivea has had three dedicated financial employees: Björn Sundqvist, Gunnar Berg and now Anna Wallin, Senior Advisor at Accountor. And there has never been a thought of switching to another partner.
"We have a long history together and have had no reason to change for 40 years. Gunnar was involved in many of the big discussions we had about taking the firm forward. His knowledge helped to make it so successful. The same with Anna who is a great support even today. We are very happy with her and she has been involved in all major decisions," says Elin.
Invaluable help through the acquisition of new companies
In recent years, Drivea has also needed legal advice. 2015-2019 saw several major changes when Hytrans' operations were reduced, Hylast was sold, and the company took the name Drivea AB. In addition to this, they also started up real estate companies and decided to form a Group.
Anna Wallin then helped to form a holding company and set up the Group structure, while her lawyer colleagues supported with the legal issues. Over the years, Drivea has received much help from Accountor's Head of Legal Johannes Fundeborg, including in negotiations in 2022 and in a share acquisition of another company that was completed in early 2023.
"Johannes helped us through the process as our representative for the entire acquisition. He is very competent, very thorough and in addition to providing legal assistance with agreements and the like, he is a good sounding board," says Elin.
"We are really happy with the collaboration"
There are currently eight companies in the Drivea Group. Anna is the chairman of the companies and their main advisor on major deals and acquisitions. Although Anna is not at the negotiating table, she plays an important role in negotiations.
"The best thing about Accountor is Anna. She and her predecessors are the main reason why we stay. Anna has very high competence, always good availability, and is very nice. We are really happy with the collaboration," Elin concludes.
