ARC expands foothold in Norway with key acquisitions

STOCKHOLM 2022-05-31. As part of its continued digital growth and sustainability agenda, ARC Arise Consulting is expanding its presence in Norway and growing its regional competency with the acquisition of leading design agencies Heydays and Goods. 

Heydays and Goods are adding world-leading design and branding expertise to ARC’s current offering in Norway. They will be joining the group’s currently residing companies, management and marketing consultant companies Curamando and Conversionista, and will spearhead ARC’s creative offering in Norway and beyond.

Both Heydays and Goods are young, ambitious, and extremely talented studios that are pushing the boundaries of conscientious design. I strongly believe that their unique blend of disciplines will set new benchmarks as to what the Norway team can achieve at home and globally. This acquisition follows a tried and tested formula at ARC— partnering with the most progressive and creative talent to offer cutting-edge services to our clients.

– Mattias Olofsson, CEO, ARC Arise Consulting

Heydays was founded in 2008 by Mathias Hovet, Thomas Lein, Lars Kjelsnes, Martin Sanne Kristiansen and Stein Henrik Haugen and is today led by Managing Director Sanda Zahirovic. Together with Ida Thulin Bentsen and Sandro Kvernmo the team formed Goods in 2019, now led by Managing Director Camilla Martinussen. All owners and managing directors have now joined as partners in ARC and grow ARC Norway’s headcount to +100 employees.

“Today, more than ever, companies are seeking human centric design and holistic brand expertise. Since Heyday’s inception, this has been at the top of our agenda, and we believe that ARC’s composition of fantastic agencies is the key to responding even better to this need”, says Sanda Zahirovic, Managing Director of Heydays

“We look forward to complementing the group with brand designers, material experts, and product designers. ARC is the best — if not the only — partner that we believe can help us scale our unique mix of competencies while supporting our clients to meet their ambitious business goals,” says Camilla Martinussen, MD Goods.

About ARC Arise Consulting

By bringing together companies with contrasting and passionate perspectives and experiences, ARC Arise Consulting has built a completely new kind of consulting company— A “powerhouse” to accelerate its customers’ digital growth and sustainability.

ARC operates at the intersection of sales and marketing, branding and communication, innovation and technology, and strategy and change. Today, ARC consists of Cupole, Curamando, Conversionista, Ariel, Animal, Kurppa Hosk, Nameless.today, Above, Umain, Mission anew, Curious Mind, Heydays and Goods – a diverse team of creative, strategic and digital thinkers.

Altor Equity Partners is the leading external investor supporting the group’s growth journey. Altor is a minority owner and ARC is run in majority of the active founders and shareholders in the company.

About Heydays

Heydays is a Norwegian design studio remodeling how technology and its aesthetics blend into our lives. The company has 20 employees, all specialists in brand strategy, design, and digital experiences. Together with their clients, Heydays orchestrate end-to-end brand and digital experiences that enhance life without invading it. The studio was founded in 2008 in Oslo, Norway, and works with clients like Amedia, Carrot, Huddly, Nomono and has Facebook, Panasonic and NRK on the client list.

About Goods

Goods is a Norwegian studio designing consumer brands and packaging with a deep focus on material research and sustainability. The company has 9 employees and is a sister company to Heydays. Founded in 2019, Goods has been awarded by Monocle, Dieline, Grafill/Visuelt, Pentawards, D&AD, and received the prestigious Jacob Award by DOGA 2021. Clients include Cisco, Tekla, reMarkable, Orkla, Ledger and Kolonihagen.

Mathias Hovet, Founder Heydays and Goods; Lars Kjelsnes, Founder and Design Director Heydays; , Mattias Olofsson, CEO ARC; Ida Bentsen, Operations Director Heydays and co-founder Goods; Sanda Zahirovic, Managing Director Heydays; Martin Sanne Kristiansen, Founder and Tech Lead Heydays; Sandro Kvernmo, Founder and Creative Director Goods; Stein Henrik Haugen, Founder and Design Ethics Director Goods; Camilla Martinussen, Managing Director Goods