Football Here are the new owners of HIFK’s Veikkausliiga club

In the Veikkausliiga there have been changes in the ownership level of the HIFK playing. In the background of the club, several meritorious people in the business world have been found through a public share issue.

HIFK spoke about the matter at its press conference on Friday.

As new faces, the club will become the main owners Heikki Pajunen, Janne Räsänen, Mirka Lod, Heikki Lehmuskoski and Jan Holst.

They and other smaller investors form the newly established Stadin Tähdet Oy Ab, to which the majority ownership of the club will be transferred.

Owner group The leader is Pajunen, who works as the chairman of the board of the consulting company Novetos Oy and is an entrepreneur. He is a former league referee.

“I was a league referee for ten years and when I finished that job, there was so much longing that what would be a suitable role in the future. This feels right for me, ”Pajunen said at the press conference.

“In my civilian work, the development of organizations and the learning of people is my passion, and of course it is also needed when taking HIFK forward.”

Pajunen promised to join more investors in the future as well.

“We have had contacts with a much larger group of investors, many of whom are sure to join. Because of the timetable, it was only easier to do that, that we now have such a core team that will take the main responsibility, and then we will continue discussions later. ”

Holst is Pajunen’s partner and CEO of Novetos Oy.

Present Räsänen, Chairman of the Board and entrepreneur of the production and employment company Pågå Oy, was also present at the press conference. Lod, in turn, is his partner.

According to Räsänen, the biggest reason for investing in a football club was working together and learning together.

“The situation is challenging, but I find that the whole HIFK family is united by the idea that we won’t give up,” he said.

“The first meetings also included a representation of supporters, and they were pretty magical moments. After those negotiations, we had to spend long nights in the office, but at least it was confirmed to ourselves that this is a tough thing to do. ”

Fifth investor Lehmuskoski works as an entrepreneur and startup investor.

HIFK launched a public share issue in May and set a target of EUR 700,000.

With the change, HIFK wanted to become a football club owned by its club community again. Anyone could participate in the share issue by purchasing at least ten shares worth EUR 30. So far, 9,000 shares are still significant.

The goal was to have a majority of Finnish investors as the company’s majority shareholders.

HIFK and the previous owner Lucas Chang Jinin the co-operation failed in the autumn of 2020. Jin had time to own the Helsinki club for two years. HIFK was disappointed with the Chinese desire to invest in the club’s activities.

Read more: Chinese ownership in Helsinki IFK ended quickly, Lucas Chang Jin left the club: “Always a deal is easier than a dispute”

Since the turn of the year, the main owner of HIFK Fotboll Ab has been the football club HIFK Soccer rf with a 75 per cent share. Now that proportion is falling to ten percent.

Athletic HIFK’s Veikkausliiga team has performed well in recent years in line with expectations.

In the season that ended, HIFK finished sixth in the series, the club’s best ranking in 50 years. Piloted the team Joaquin Gomez however, is moving to the helm of SJK next season. The replacement for Gomez is not yet known.