Wenaasgruppen traces its origins to Wenaas Konfeksjon, founded in 1931 by Lars Wenaas, the grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather of the current owners. The business began in the basement of the family home.
Lars’ son, Sigmund, later continued and expanded the company together with his wife, Lidveig, and their sons, Lars and Nils. Under their leadership, Sigmund Wenaas Konfeksjonsfabrikk became Norway’s leading supplier of workwear and subsequently established a strong presence in the European market.
The headquarters and distribution centre in Måndalen became one of the most modern facilities of its kind in Europe, while production was gradually expanded to other countries.
In 1996, the company was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange before merging with Denmark’s largest workwear manufacturer. Three years after the IPO, the company was acquired by the private equity firm Axcel. Today, Wenaas continues to be a leading international supplier of workwear and personal protective equipment, with its headquarters and central warehouse remaining in Måndalen.
At the same time, the family-owned company was building a substantial hotel portfolio. Since the 1990s, Wenaasgruppen has acquired and developed 58 hotels, including landmark properties such as the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel in Oslo and the Radisson Collection Royal Hotel in Copenhagen.
In the early 2000s, the Group sold several hotels in Norway and Denmark while introducing a new investment strategy focused on hotels with more than 200 rooms in major European city centres. This strategy was subsequently refined further, leading to the divestment of all smaller hotel properties. In 2023, the Group also sold its ten hotels in Russia, including the Park Inn by Radisson Pribaltiyskaya in St. Petersburg, the largest hotel in Northern Europe. Today, Wenaasgruppen owns 18 hotels comprising nearly 7,800 rooms across ten cities in seven countries.
Asset management has long been a core part of the Group’s activities and today accounts for approximately 35 percent of its book value.
Over the years, Wenaasgruppen has invested in and developed a number of additional business areas, many of which were subsequently divested at a profit. At its peak, the Group owned five ski resorts in Norway. Wenaasgruppen also built a significant shipping portfolio with interests in more than 40 vessels, primarily within the dry bulk segment. Following the global financial crisis, the industry faced several challenging years, and the Group gradually reduced its exposure before fully exiting the sector in 2024.
In the early 2000s, the Group also established a strong position in the sports and outdoor market through the acquisition of several smaller companies. Wenaas Nordic was sold in 2017 after eleven years of successful operation.
