New CEO in Cautus Geo

Atle Gerhardsen is the new CEO of Cautus Geo. "We look forward to continuing our growth journey together with Atle and the rest of the employees," says Chairman of the Board Torkild Hebbert Haukaas.

Cautus Geo specialises in geomonitoring. This involves automatic monitoring and alerting of natural hazards, the environment and climate, building and construction, transport and structures.

Two years ago, Equip became the majority shareholder. At the same time, Odd Sverre Østlie became the new CEO and investor. "We wanted growth capital, professional owners and new expertise to build a large international group," says Gerhardsen.

He led the company for the first 12 years. Now he's back as CEO of the company he founded with Lars Krangnes in 2009.

Solid foundation

- The underlying trends are with us. The world is increasingly being instrumented. Over the past two years, Cautus Geo has continued to grow. At the same time, we have strengthened the foundation for further growth both organically and through acquisitions. We are grateful for Odd Sverre's important contribution to this," says Chairman Haukaas.

Østlie was hired to lead the building of Cautus Geo internationally, including through acquisitions. Since the company has not chosen to make any acquisitions, the board and CEO have agreed that Østlie will step down as CEO and take on a role as advisor and investor.

- The conditions for growth through acquisitions changed with the pandemic, the supply crisis, war in Europe, expensive times and rising international interest rates. "We still have good growth in Norway, but so far we have not become comfortable enough with acquisitions that meet our criteria," says outgoing CEO Østlie.

Profitable growth

Cautus Geo has 14 years of profitable growth behind it, including the last two years under new ownership and with Odd Sverre Østlie as CEO.

- We had good growth in 2022 and expect growth again this year. And we have strengthened our technology. It's therefore easy to hand the helm back to Atle when Cautus Geo is developing well," says Østlie.

- We have grown and we will continue to grow. That's why we're still looking for bright minds for several open positions," says Gerhardsen.

"He will also draw on Østlie in the future - he is with us on the ownership side and will be a sparring partner," says Gerhardsen.