Swedish deal will see Tre Vänner boss Jonas Fors replace Rasmus Ramstad as Svensk CEO.

Swedish major Svensk Filmindustri is to acquire 90% of Tre Vänner, the Stockholm-based production outfit behind the smash hit Snabba Cash franchise.

As part of the deal, Tre Vänner managing director Jonas Fors will become CEO of Svensk from Oct 1, replacing Rasmus Ramstad.

The agreement unifies a film and TV conglomerate founded in 1919, with subsidiaries in Norway, Denmark, and Finland, and a production company set up in 1995 by three scriptwriters, with the aim to make films with a local and Nordic flavour as well as international potential.

Tre Vänner’s latest feature, Jens Jonsson thriller Livet De Luxe (Life Deluxe) concludes the Snabba cash (Easy Money) trilogy from author Jens Lapidus’ Stockholm Noir series. It opened last week at the top of the Swedish box office with 85,000 admissions over the weekend.

“Svensk is a well-known brand with a catalogue of more than 1,200 films - Tre Vänner is a very exciting production company with a network of creative minds,” said Ulrika Saxon, Svensk chairman of the board and head of Bonnier Growth Media.

“The ambition is now to realise Svensk’s full potential as a leading European film company.”

New Svensk CEO Fors added: “Tre Vänners’ strong performance is due to combining creativity with a business focus. With Svensk’s history and expertise in film production and distribution, we will be able to utilise our resources to further develop, produce and distribute unique stories.”

A part of the Bonnier AB media group, Svensk Filmindustri’s Nordic operation includes film and TV production and distribution, film and home entertainment acquisition, distribution and international sales. Major international partners include MGM, Warner Bros and Twentieth Century Fox.

Tre Vänner was established by scriptwriters Michael Hjorth, Johan Kindblom and Tomas Tivemark. Besides Livet De Luxe, its 2013 line-up contains Teresa Fabik’s Små citroner gula (Love and Lemons), Per Hanefjord’s Tyskungen (The Hidden Child) and Christian Ryltenius’ Bamse och tjuvstaden (Bamse and the City of Thieves).

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