Our Story

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In the summer of 2006, the opportunity to acquire Helly Hansen presented itself. A classic heritage brand, Helly Hansen was founded in 1877 by Helly Juel Hansen with the early beginnings of inventing waterproof apparel. It was a brand we had known since we were born, and it was the only truly Norwegian consumer brand with international recognition. Enduring 10 difficult years with accumulated negative EBITDA, Helly Hansen presented the perfect restructuring challenge.

We had five great years with Helly Hansen where we successfully revitalized the brand by bringing it back to its roots: «Bridging the gap between human will and nature’s forces». On this platform we launched new product lines, built more focused businesses, improved margins, and accelerated growth. In 2011, the Survival business was sold to Montague and in 2012, sport and workwear was sold to OTPP. 

Helly Hansen was a great learning experience that gave us the self-confidence to go after new opportunities in sport and sport apparel, particularly brands with authentic heritage. As a result, after two years of dialogue with the Rossignol Group, we acquired it in an exclusive process in 2013. 

Coming out of challenging times under the ownership of Quicksilver, our idea was to turn around the winter sport equipment business and better leverage the brand that was created by Abe Rossignol in 1907.

 We believed that "by selling skis, you create more brand equity than you can use to sell skis." Therefore, we made the decision to reintroduce the heritage logo and build an apparel business under the Rossignol brand. It has been a successful journey, and the «sport-chic» Rossignol collection has found its place in global ski and winter wear.  

  In 2005 we embarked on a long and ambitious journey to build the world leader in marine electronics for recreational boating. This journey began with the acquisitions of Simrad and B&G in 2005, continued Lowrance Electronics in 2006 and buying Brunswick New Technologies.  

In 2007 we entered the global financial crisis with 7 brands, 16 product platforms, and 7 manufacturing sites. This required a major restructuring and consolidation effort, where the business was refocused around four distinct brands with authentic heritage: 

• Simrad, established by Willy Simonsen in 1947, specialized in blue water motorboats; 
• Lowrance, established by Darrell Lowrance and his father in 1957, specialized in inland fishing; 
• B&G, established by R.N. Gatehouse and Ronald Brookes in 1956, specialized in sailing. 
• C-MAP cartography, to help you navigate safely and effectively.  

Navico became a part of the world’s largest boat builder group, Brunswick Corporation in October 2021.

 Founded in 2012, Dignio set out to make a real difference in health technology by addressing a critical societal need. Monte Rosa Capital first invested in Dignio in 2020, acquiring an initial 8.9% stake, which grew to 26% prior to divestment in February 2026.

When Monte Rosa Capital joined, we helped Dignio refocus on the hardware side of the business -- Automatic Medication Dispensers (AMDs) -- a less saturated market with immediate impact potential.

 In Spring 2022 we acquired AceAge, and the result was an improved Karie AMD and the launch of Karie Duo in November 2025. These innovations transformed Dignio’s hardware offering, making it the only provider delivering a complete suite: RPM, Clinician Portal, and best-in-class AMDs. 

 The sale of Dignio to Summa Equity completed in February 2026 and we’re proud of the incredible journey Dignio has taken during our ownership.