While the Swedes are still awaiting the final results of the legislative elections on Sunday September 11, now announced for Thursday September 15, some companies are celebrating. This is the case of välfärdsföretag – literally, “welfare state corporations”: private companies, financed by the taxpayer to provide public services, in the sectors of education, health, care for the elderly…
Monday, September 12 morning, while the first vote count gave a very slight lead to the bloc made up of conservatives, Christian Democrats, liberals and the far right, the price of their shares soared on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. An increase of 16%, in a few hours, for AcadeMedia, leader in the school market, which ended the day with an increase of 13%. Shares of rival TellusGruppen rose 14.4%.
In the Ehpad and home help sector, the Attendo group gained 5.6%, Humana 5.5%… And the list goes on, testifying to the relief of shareholders and the companies themselves, after a campaign for which the Social Democrats in particular, in power for eight years, have promised to crack down on these companies and their ability to make a profit.
“Strong support for the freedom to choose”
“The result of these elections shows strong support for the freedom to choose”, welcomed Marcus Strömberg, CEO of AcadeMedia, at the microphone of public radio P1 on Monday. The group’s stock had fallen more than 30% since September 2021, when the Social Democrats announced they wanted to ban profits for companies in the school sector. At the end of August, Academedia nevertheless decided to redistribute 185 million crowns (17 million euros) to its shareholders.
However, a large majority of Swedes are in favor of banning profits for this type of structure. The Democrats of Sweden (SD) – far-right party which won 20.6% of the vote after the first count – also supported this ban until 2015, before turning around. The Swedish media have revealed the role, in this conversion, of the consulting firm Kreab, created by the curator Peje Emilsson, also founder of the company Kunskapsskolan, which has twenty-nine schools and colleges, and seven high schools.
Uncontrolled privatization
At the time, however, the elected officials of SD were considered plague victims in Parliament. In an interview with the economic newspaper Dagens Industriin September 2015, Mr. Emilsson justified himself: “It is quite obvious that we try to influence all elected politicians. » In search of standardization, the SD saw it as a way to show its credentials to employers and to get closer to the right and the business world.
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