Has sold the life’s work to the plastic entrepreneurs in Selbak

On Friday, employees were informed that the owners of AS Om Be Plast had sold their shares in the company. The buyer was another family business with a long-standing customer relationship with the plastic manufacturer, OSO Group from Hokksund.
OSO Group is Europe’s leading producer of stainless steel water heaters.
– To secure themselves and gain control over nearly their entire production line from raw material to finished product, they were interested in buying us out, explains Lie.
That it was another family-owned company that Lie and the three other shareholders sold to was not a coincidence.
– Selling to a financial buyer was never an option. It was most important to us that Om Be Plast would move forward and continue production in Selbak, says Lie.
The four shareholders, Gunnar Bjørn Lie (25 percent), Ole Johnny Omberg (60 percent), Anne Britt-Elseth (three percent), and Knut Gunnar Ottesen (12 percent), have sold all their shares in Om Be Norteam Holding AS, which in turn owned AS Om Be Plast and Norteam Eiendom AS.
The four shareholders, Gunnar Bjørn Lie (25 percent), Ole Johnny Omberg (60 percent), Anne Britt-Elseth (three percent), and Knut Gunnar Ottesen (12 percent), have sold all their shares in Om Be Norteam Holding AS, which in turn owned AS Om Be Plast and Norteam Eiendom AS.
Om Be Plast will continue as before, and all customers have been informed about the ownership change. Om Be Plast produces, among other things, all the propellers and plastic components for Sleipner Motor’s products. Mascot is also a valued local customer. For Glamox, they produce all types of lamps.
The company was founded by Johnny Omberg and Fred Bekkevold in 1962. Bjørn Lie joined the company as a toolmaker in 1968 and took over as general manager in 1999.
– I was able to celebrate 55 years as an employee at Om Be Plast on June 24th this year. Not many people can beat that, says the 72-year-old.
He has signed a contract with the new owners to lead the company for another two years. During that time, the planned building of 1,800 square meters will be constructed. Before long, they will be looking to hire eight to ten new employees to staff the new production equipment that will be put in place.
OSO is investing 20 million kroner in new energy-saving injection molding machines, robots, and other production equipment, which will be in place before Lie steps down.
– It feels good. Now I know that what I helped build will continue. We had our best year in terms of both turnover and results in 2022, and so far this year we have increased turnover by 18 percent. That’s why we had cake with the employees last week, says Lie.
PS: AS Om Be Plast had a turnover of 70.1 million kroner in 2022 and a pre-tax profit of 6.9 million kroner. In 2021, the company was restructured, presumably in preparation for future sale.
– We have produced the top and bottom parts of their water heaters for many years, says the general manager of Om Be Plast, Bjørn Lie (72).
He says that they started talks with OSO about a sale six months ago, but in recent years there have been several interested parties who have contacted him about a possible sale.
– It became a dialogue about the future cooperation. OSO has increased its production of water heaters for both the industrial and private markets by 40 percent so far this year. This is due to the war in Ukraine and the gas shortage in Europe, which has led to a sharp increase in demand for electric water heaters.
Lie does not want to comment on the sale price, but Finansavisen speculates a purchase price of around 50 million kroner.
According to Lie, the news of the sale was very well received among the approximately 30 employees at Om Be Plast when they were informed on Friday.
– They know the new owners through our long-standing customer relationship, says Lie.
This is also confirmed by union representative Sven Johansen.
– We believe that this will be great, but we haven’t had much time to talk yet since it was only announced on Friday, he says.