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Novo Annual Report 2015
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letter from the chairman t he success of
novo
a/s is measured by our ability to support the
novo
nordisk foundation in the fulfilment of its objectives. to meet this obligation, we continually seek to strengthen our business by: ? preserving a strong balance sheet so that we are able to effectively assist the companies in the
novo
group; ? utilising our expertise within life science and
investments
to generate attractive returns, relative to the risks undertaken to finance our grant activities; and ? making
investments
that support the goals of the
novo
nordisk foundation, which are the promotion of knowledge and world-class research.
2015
was a good year for
novo
a/s, and we continue to strengthen our position as a key player in the international life science investment industry. large
investments
has had a very active year but did not conclude any significant new
investments
in
2015
, as we in some instances found price levels too high.
novo
ventures, however, has made a series of new
investments
and successful exits, and we expect this high level of activity to continue in the coming year, with particular focus on early-stage publicly listed companies and defined exits.
novo
seeds remains a key player in the nordic biotech space and will continue its efforts to build a nordic life science hub through pre-seed grants and active
investments
. in
2015
,
novo
nordisk a/s and
novo
zymes a/s experienced strong growth in earnings, nnit a/s went through a successful ipo, and our financial
investments
yielded great returns. in july, we acquired a large share of the danish real estate company, dades a/s ? real estate being a complementary asset class in our finance portfolio. in 2016, we will continue our strong focus on life science, and we expect to increase our direct
investments
outside this industry as well. we will direct particular attention to attractive long-term
investments
in leading and innovative companies with a danish focal point ? our recent investment in flsmidth & co. a/s being an example of this.
novo
also expects to resume
investments
in other more illiquid assets in order to diversify our
investments
and reduce portfolio risks. this could include
investments
in private equity funds. as an afternote, i would like to thank eivind kolding, ceo of
novo
a/s, for his leadership and the results achieved during
2015
. eivind kolding resigned from his position as of 29 february 2016, and the search process for a new ceo has been initiated. until a new ceo is appointed, i have assumed working responsibilities as executive chairman on an interim basis. sincerely, sten scheibye chairman of the board annual review
2015
7 letter from the chairman
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