Føie
Joining forces to shape a grid company for the future
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Norway’s energy sector is undergoing a significant digitalisation trend, pushing companies to adapt to a rapidly evolving market. To enhance resilience, improve efficiency, and attract new expertise, local companies are increasingly turning to mergers. By joining forces, they aim to expand their reach from local to regional markets, positioning themselves for sustainable growth.
Three local energy distribution system operators (DSOs), Føie, Hallingdal Kraftnett, and Hemsil Nett, saw an opportunity to merge to improve operational capacity and to become a future-ready company. In less than six months, we guided the organisations through the merger process, setting them up to offer secure, reliable, and efficient energy distribution in accordance with regulations and laws.
Meeting growing electricity demand head-on
Norway is facing an increase in energy demand, mainly due to electrification of energy intensive industries and private consumption. The country’s power demand is set to increase by 60 percent by 2050, meaning local and regional players need to become digitally and operationally robust enough to fully enable the energy transition. The country has over 70 energy grid companies, many of them small regional players, who struggle to balance investments in people, infrastructure, and technology.
Føie, Hallingdal Kraftnett, and Hemsil Nett saw the advantage of merging. By coming together, they could not only gain operational efficiencies, enhance business continuity, and advance digitisation, but also become an example in the region. With a complex stakeholder landscape to navigate and network operations to untangle, they needed to approach the merger holistically.
We needed a partner who could help us navigate the uncertainty of merging three organisations together, and keep us focused on the vision we wanted to achieve. We found that in PA.”
Ensuring a structured and collaborative way of working
With deep knowledge of the energy and utility business model, we’re able to lead mergers and acquisitions (M&A) integrations holistically. We brought best practices and insight gathered from working with energy companies around the globe – including Denmark’s largest energy producer, Ørsted, to lead the green energy transformation, and Dutch operator Enexis, to ensure its energy grid is fit for the energy transition.
We assembled a team with expertise in change management, growth strategy, implementation, and digital. This broad mix of skills helped us to establish a high degree of trust and collaboration from the outset of this high-stakes project, ensuring a structured and collaborative merger process.
Bringing together a vast stakeholder network
In Norway, the majority of energy grid companies are wholly or partially owned by municipalities, so it was important that we began by mapping out the organisation's multitude of stakeholders. In the first phase of the merger process, we mobilised key stakeholders and established a structured plan of key activities to reach day zero of a joint operative company.
Next, we brought the stakeholders together to take part in structured sessions, where we explored blockers in the merger process, such as consolidating IT systems, clarifying leadership positions, uniting ways of working, mapping overlapping agreements, and ensuring a smooth transition for employees. Our team facilitated the sessions, helping those involved handle challenging decisions and ensuring everyone was committed to the plan.
While speed was important, it was crucial we approached this democratically, giving everyone a seat at a table. Establishing process, structure, and trust was essential.”
Building a future ready energy company
With a clear view of priorities from the stakeholder sessions, we began to determine the capabilities the new organisation needed to strengthen its position in Norway’s energy grid. For example, it would need to handle increased energy production from sources such as wind and solar, which require greater network capacity and stability. Another priority was to ensure the new company was operationally robust enough to rapidly respond to grid incidents, while being compliant to requirements and expectations of a regional energy provider.
The organisation also required robust leadership and a plan for how to jointly go to market. We supported the establishment of the new organisational structure, including the recruitment of key management roles and clarified the new company’s corporate strategy in a way that captured their vision and goals.
It’s been so satisfying to see Føie come together as a new company, with a strong leadership team, a clear path to consolidation, and a shared vision.”
Operating from a place of resilience and efficiency
Today, the three companies are united as Føie. In less than six months, we united the three DSOs under a new organisational structure and operating model. Føie is harnessing its enhanced operations to reduce vulnerabilities, deliver a safer, more enjoyable environment for employees, and improve the quality, capacity, and resilience of its service. Importantly, Føie is now positioned to play a bigger role in Norway’s energy grid and contribute to the country’s energy ambitions.
What we have done together with PA in a matter of months is quite an achievement. They didn’t just get the job done, they provided us with insights that have helped us to develop better ideas to put into action.”
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