IAC has a new owner

On December 1, the Indian conglomerate Tata Autocomp formally took over ownership of the Swedish part of IAC, which at the same time changed its name to Artifex Systems AB. The date marked the end of a long period of extraordinary bankruptcy administration. With approximately 1,400 employees and around 500 hired consultants, IAC has long been one of the largest subcontractors to the automotive industry in Sweden. As a result of the bankruptcy, Ackordscentralen has had ultimate responsibility for this business for almost a year and a half, during which time it has had a turnover of around SEK 11 billion.

"Maintaining industrial operations on this scale during bankruptcy administration is unique. But when we now sum up everything – from bankruptcy to new ownership – we can conclude that, given the circumstances, it developed into something very positive. An important success factor is that we have had fantastic cooperation with the talented management team at IAC in Sweden," says bankruptcy administrator Mikael Kubu, CEO of Ackordscentralen.

Shocking news
Anders Ericson is the person who has been at the helm of International Automotive Components Group Sweden AB. June 27, 2024, is a day he will never forget. That was when IAC's American parent company decided to file for bankruptcy for the Swedish part of the business, which had manufacturing operations in three factories – Gothenburg, Skara, and Färgelanda. The factories supply instrument panels, door panels, and consoles to Volvo Cars, Volvo Trucks, and Scania, among others.

“IAC had been in turmoil globally for over a year, but the Swedish business was doing relatively well. It came as a shock to both staff and customers when the bankruptcy announcement came two weeks before the summer break,” says Anders Ericson.

There was a great sense of disappointment and injustice within the organization, but at the same time, anger, a desire for revenge, and a fighting spirit were aroused.

“On the very first day, we arranged a meeting for all employees. The Swedish management decided to focus on as much communication and transparency as possible. We literally took down the IAC sign. Then we decided to take fate into our own hands,” says Anders Ericson.

Crisis during the pandemic
The Gothenburg District Court appointed Mikael Kubu as bankruptcy administrator. Together with around 20 employees at Ackordscentralen, he quickly had to familiarize himself with the automotive industry and what is often described as one of the world's most complex supply chains.

The so-called “just-in-time” logistics mean that car and truck manufacturers are heavily dependent on their suppliers. Production planning is meticulous, and since vehicle manufacturers lack buffer stocks of important parts, disruptions in the finely meshed global supply networks can have major consequences. This was demonstrated not least by the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit the industry hard in several ways. Reduced demand, material shortages, and increased purchasing costs contributed to production delays. High interest rates, currency fluctuations, and economic uncertainty further exacerbated the situation.

Swedish IAC took advantage of the opportunity for government pandemic support and received a total of SEK 1.42 billion in various payments. The company did not manage to repay any part of the sum and, at the time of bankruptcy, had the country's largest COVID liability to the state. The main reason for this was a group account structure that meant that IAC Sweden's liquid assets were collected in an account with a company based in Luxembourg. The amounts that IAC Sweden received in the form of tax deferrals were thus used up in other group companies.

Major investments
The bankruptcy that followed meant that the summer of 2024 was an incredibly intense time for both IAC Sweden and Ackordscentralen. IAC’s factories operate around the clock, with deliveries to Volvo Cars every hour, among other things. If the machinery at IAC does not work, production at customers’ sites comes to a halt.

“Together with IAC's Swedish management, we have always been committed to finding constructive solutions. A large part of the work has been about bringing money into the bankruptcy estate and continuing to deliver components to customers,” explains Mikael Kubu.

Under the direction of the bankruptcy estate, Ackordscentralen has maintained operations at the three factories in western Sweden for a full 17 months.

“It has been a unique situation. Operations were almost like those of a normal company, even though the company was in bankruptcy. One of the challenges was that the process also required investments of hundreds of millions of kronor. The factories need to continuously acquire new machines and tools in order to keep pace with customers’ investments in new vehicle series,” says Mikael Kubu.

Restoring trust
A lot of time and energy has also been spent on repairing trust among the company's approximately 600 subcontractors around the world. Almost all suppliers have lost money to varying degrees in connection with IAC's bankruptcy. According to the inventory of assets and liabilities, the bankrupt company's total liabilities amounted to approximately SEK 5.7 billion

“We have made sure to pay our subcontractors very quickly for deliveries made after the bankruptcy, often within seven or eight days. This has meant that most of them have been open to continuing to work with us,” says Anders Ericson.

However, in the initial period after the bankruptcy, several hundred concerned suppliers contacted us. Lars Zetterberg, a lawyer at Ackordscentralen Väst in Gothenburg, was one of those who took the calls.

“We had to explain what had happened and how we intended to proceed. We had to appeal and persuade. Sometimes we were even able to refer to the end customers, i.e. Volvo Cars, Volvo Trucks, and Scania, which has been a great help. All in all, the result was that the three IAC factories have not had a single unplanned stoppage during these 17 months,” says Lars Zetterberg.

New collective bargaining agreement
In the event of bankruptcy, all employees are dismissed from the bankrupt company. Instead, the IAC employees were hired on a short-term basis by the bankruptcy estate, with Ackordscentralen assuming employer responsibility through the bankruptcy estate. The employees represent a large number of nationalities, which places extra high demands on information management. Questions about state wage guarantees, parental leave, and all other types of personnel issues have been handled by Ackordscentralen, in collaboration with the company's local HR department in Gothenburg.

“We have conducted employee bargaining negotiations and have even signed a new collective bargaining agreement with IF Metall when the old one expired. Normally, it is not common for bankruptcy administrators to engage in such activities,” points out Lars Zetterberg.

Together with Louise Sjödahl, a lawyer at Ackordscentralen Stockholm, he has been responsible for many of the HR details. In addition, the two have participated in meetings and hearings organized by the European Commission, which has taken its time to give the green light to Indian company Tata Autocomps’ purchase of the bankruptcy estate. The process took a full eight months, from March to November.

“Swedish IAC's turnover has been significant, so when a player outside the EU acquired the business, competition approval from the EU was required. From our side, many submissions were needed to explain how Swedish bankruptcy law works and that we have an obligation to liquidate the bankruptcy estate as quickly as possible,” says Louise Sjödahl.

Secure operations
She is also the person who has drawn up the inventory of assets and liabilities and has worked on certifying payments and checking the accounts, among other things.

“IAC has a structure that makes bankruptcy complicated. For example, there are various transport and customs issues to consider, as well as many customer and supplier-related aspects. The fact that the bankruptcy occurred during the summer was another complication, and initially it was difficult to get hold of various decision-makers. According to the law, the main rule is that continued operation during bankruptcy may continue for a maximum of twelve months. In IAC's case, we considered that there were exceptional reasons to continue for longer,” says Louise Sjödahl.

Her colleague Erik Hellström at Ackordscentralen Stockholm has focused primarily on all the complex agreements required to secure operations at the three factories. Some contract negotiations have taken several weeks. One complicating factor was that IAC had shared global IT systems for everything from HR issues to factory management. In order to continue using these systems, the bankruptcy estate needed new agreements with IAC’s parent company.

“From the outset, we did not have sufficient liquidity to run any factories at all, but we managed to obtain significant liquidity injections from customers. At the same time, the bankruptcy estate has had to make extensive investments in the business. In the end, there were hundreds of millions of kronor in investments that had to be handled in various ways in connection with the transfer to Tata," says Erik Hellström.

Long negotiations
The negotiations to find a buyer for Swedish IAC have been numerous and lengthy. A number of Ackordscentralen’s employees have participated in the process. On December 1, 2025, a new chapter began when the new Indian owner took over the business.

Anders Ericson remains at the head office in Gothenburg, now as acting CEO of Artifex Systems AB. He is an engineer by training and began working in the automotive industry in Gothenburg in 1998. He joined IAC in 2016 as site manager and three years later was given regional responsibility for a total of nine sites in Northern Europe and Spain.

“I have always been attracted to the automotive industry. It is a competitive, fast-paced industry with many interesting people,” he points out.

Many jobs were saved
When bankruptcy became a reality, however, the pace became unreasonably high. Many IAC employees worked hard, initially around the clock.

“Production has to keep going, but at the same time there is chaos. Phones are shut down, bank cards stop working, and it's impossible to fill up the cars. The early days were very tough, but we received tremendous support from Ackordscentralen,” says Anders Ericson.

Many jobs have been saved now that the factories in Gothenburg, Färgelanda, and Skara can continue to operate. The facilities are roughly the same size, employing around 600–700 people each.

“Over the past year, we have even increased our workforce in Sweden by more than 100 people. We have brought production here that was previously located in Poland,” says Anders Ericson.

IAC's previously extensive operations in Europe have now been split up. Three of the units have been taken over by Tata Autocomp companies, one of which is Artifex Systems AB. Anders Ericson's vision for the future is that Swedish component manufacturing will continue to grow:

“That is our stated goal,” he says.

Published in Ackordscentralen Nyheter no 4 2025

Text: Lena Lidberg