Cevian Capital is a paradox. It is intensely publicity shy, yet it has taken on more high-profile campaigns than any other European activist manager in recent years. And for a firm that only does activist investing, it is remarkably conciliatory.

Active is an apt description of Lars Förberg, one of the co-founders of the €12 billion hedge fund. When Financial News met the energetic Swede for a rare interview at a plush Mayfair restaurant, he had just returned from Nepal where he had been trekking with business partners. But showing no signs of jet lag he explained how it was the very same table where he had negotiated the firm's investment in Rexel, the Paris-listed global electronics distributor, just a few months earlier.