In my opinion, with NoHo, one should also see the potential that lies in larger arrangements in the industry at a European level.
For various reasons, I have been following Orkla’s journey for a long time, and Orkla knows Finnish operators extremely well and is known for its arrangements. NoHo’s former CEO, Aku, moved to become the CEO of Orkla Europe. Orkla, in turn, has built the European Pizza Company, which is a house of three local pizza brands with a turnover of approximately 300 million, and which also includes Kotipizza from Finland. Expanding into the premium pizza market could be a very logical step for NoHo as well, and I would not be greatly surprised if Orkla and NoHo found common ground in an M&A sense – at least it wouldn’t be due to Orkla’s European head not knowing both companies, which should lower the threshold. By combining the companies, it would simultaneously be a listed company, so Orkla would not need to list EPC separately if it wanted an exit from it. Through such an arrangement, NoHo would have both premium burger and premium pizza segments in its portfolio. Triple Trading, acquired by NoHo from Denmark, would fit perfectly in terms of synergies to serve both entities, and I’m sure they could also get pizza boxes from there in addition to other 2 Go products ![]()
Referring back to previous discussions on vertical integration, the European Pizza Company has also named “Value chain ownership” as one of its three focus areas in its CMD.
This is, of course, pure speculation, but I would be surprised if the option of larger arrangements were not on the table.