Team size: 35

Key team members: Petr Kaas (DPO), Matias Minddal (head of corporate)

Can you give an idea of the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Falck has embarked on its “Care for More 2027” strategy aimed at strengthening its position as an integrated healthcare service company leveraging on a strong foothold in healthcare in the Nordic market and Latin America, as well as its position as an international supplier of emergency healthcare services and fire services. As a true business partner to Falck’s businesses globally, the Legal and Compliance team has not only supported and dealt with a vast number of assignments in a broad range of strategic and operational issues but also played a transformation agent role, all of it contributing to the implementation and success of the strategy.

On the commercial efforts, significant highlights include public procurement bid strategies and negotiations on large emergency medical services tenders and contracts in Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and the US, and fire services contracts with well-known international customers around Europe. Also, Legal and Compliance has supported securing contracts within the healthcare space with key public and business customers across the Nordic region.

Furthermore, Legal and Compliance has been highly involved in Falck’s digital transformation which includes new initiatives on healthcare services in the Nordic countries aimed at consumers. Such work encompassed advising in relation to the design of the digital platforms required, privacy-related aspects, and marketing. Other digital transformation efforts include state-of-the-art contracts for a new global finance platform and standardisation of Falck’s IT contracts.

Legal and Compliance has dealt with strategic M&A activity, including the acquisition and integration of a large Norwegian healthcare group and divestment of Falck’s patient transport services business in the UK and its roadside assistance business in Sweden, Norway, and Baltics. In addition, Legal and Compliance is on a continuous basis working to simplify to corporate landscape of the Falck group.

Do you have an example of a time when you have come up with an innovation that improved how your legal team functions, while avoiding any large expense?

Innovation is a declared breakthrough required for Falck to deliver on its “Care for More 2027” strategy. In addition to supporting the innovative endeavours initiated by Falck’s businesses, Falck Legal and Compliance has, over the year, taken some steps on its own digitisation journey. The team had already created and implemented an approval governance process for contracts allowing for a swift and compliant approach to contract opportunities. Such process and tool have already been digitised for supplier contracts and will be so for customer contracts as well, allowing for even more efficient contract handling.

Moreover, Legal and Compliance has internally developed and rolled out a digital contract review tool that allows for efficient and consistent contract reviews where preferred and fall-back positions, as well as mandatory requirements, have been defined for all Falck’s businesses based on legal, commercial, financial and operational insights. Not only does the tool improve efficiency and reduce turnaround time it also ensures better alignment with the businesses already from the beginning of the process.

Finally, Legal and Compliance has developed a model for grading contract liability, which takes into account different, relevant mitigation measures – both contractual and operational, setting the steppingstone for a wider grading of contract risks in the future.