Team size: ten

Can you briefly explain how the legal team is structured, highlighting key individuals and their role within the department?

We have one centralised legal team in Orkla with eight lawyers. We are experienced lawyers with expertise in legal fields defined as key to Orkla, such as IP and marketing law, M&A, securities, competition law, real estate, and employment law. I would like to highlight Martin Rove, who came from Selmer where he was partner and head of Selmer’s IP team, and he is now one out of two IP marketing law experts in our team. He has a unique combination of legal expertise, commercial understanding, and excellent communication skills. I would also like to highlight Espen Pihlstrøm who is involved in all major M&A in Orkla and is surely a key individual for Orkla. Espen is extremely strong in his legal work and in addition he has commercial and strategy thinking which in combination really adds value to Orkla.

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

We are involved in all central projects in Orkla, including all M&As. The most significant transactions this year have been the acquisitions of NutraQ , Eastern and New York Pizza. Our work involves being responsible for all legal work streams in the project (SPA, due diligence, competition filing) and in addition legal plays a significant role in the negotiations.

What will be the main focus for the company in the next 12 months and how do you intend to assist with this?

Main focus in Orkla is organic growth, in addition to M&A. Orkla has three strategic expansion areas: plant based, consumer health and out-of-home. Legal is involved in all business areas and in all central projects and works closely with top management. Our in-house expertise supports Orkla’s growth agenda.

How does the team contribute constructively to the growth and expansion of the company?

We work closely with top management and have annual reviews on how we deliver to support Orkla strategy with relevant competence and ways of working. I am proud that our legal team enjoys profound respect in Orkla.

How do you feel the pandemic has changed the world of work for in-house counsel and the function of the general counsel? 

The pandemic has changed the way all functions work generally. We are now more trained and thereby more able to reach out to more people in our Group, especially outside of Norway and the Nordics, since we all are more used to digital workplace and tools. Our training work will change, as we will have more webinars and invitations sent out and less physical classroom training.

Camilla Tellefsdal Robstad
Senior vice president legal and compliance, general counsel
Orkla