Nordic Outdoor, a leading Norwegian distributor in fishing and outdoor products, and Bios, which has similar activities in Sweden, have gone ahead swiftly with the integration of their operations after they decided to merge earlier this year, as reported in our issue of April 15. To this end, Nordic Outdoor acquired the Norwegian subsidiary of Bios, while Bios bought the Swedish subsidiary of Nordic Outdoor, and the two distributors set up a holding company above these two units, in which they have equal shares. Bios' Norwegian operation, which was based outside Oslo and employed two salespeople, was transferred to the head office of Nordic Outdoor in Arendal. Meanwhile, two of the three salespeople employed by Nordic Outdoor in Sweden are to be transferred to Bios. Neither of the companies had warehouses outside their home market. Along with its own label and many other fishing brands, Nordic Outdoor sells brands such as Coleman, Optimus, Katadyn, Chiruca and Neverlost; while Bios handles Rossignol, Vaude and Edelrid. The situation with regard to potential extension of these rights across Norway and Sweden differs from one brand to the next.
