Carlsquare and First Athens advised Beijer Ref to acquire 80% of the shares in the air conditioning company Inventor, with the option to acquire the remaining share, thereby establishing itself on the Greek market. Inventor has had good profitability over the past four years, with annual sales growth of 19% and EBIT growth of 40% over the last 4-year period. The company has many years of experience in the HVAC segment and have a strong brand recognition with its own brand, Inventor.
Inventor’s head office is located in Athens (Greece), with a second sales office in Bucharest (Romania). Its primary sales channels are retailers and installers, but Amazon’s e-trading is also an important platform – which is a new distribution channel for Beijer Ref.
The parties have signed a binding agreement, after which the competition authority in Romania will now review the transaction. The takeover is expected to take place during the autumn of 2021. Inventor’s annual sales amount to just over SEK 600 million (around EUR 60 million).
Inventor will continue to operate under its own brand, in both distribution and marketing. The acquisition will have a positive impact on the Beijer Ref Group’s results and position.
Per Bertland, CEO of Beijer Ref, comments:
“We are very pleased with this addition: Inventor adds both value and competence to our group. Greece is also a completely new market for Beijer Ref, which is in line with our growth strategy. Inventor has strong potential and we look forward to continuing to develop the company together with customers and management.”
George Assimakopoulos, MD of Inventor, comments:
“We are very proud to receive the trust and recognition from Beijer Ref. With Inventor, we have started an ambitious and exciting journey and we see Beijer Ref as an important partner in achieving our goals. We will stick to our original business plan and work together with all the benefits that Beijer Ref can bring.”
“We appreciate the genuine professionalism and positive atmosphere that First Athens and Carlsquare has showed and created during the whole process. Together we have constructed a deal that is positive for both buyers and sellers”, says David Ericsson, VP and Head of M&A at Beijer Ref.
Carlsquare acted together with First Athens as financial advisor to Beijer Ref.The collaboration between Carlsquare and First Athens is done within the framework of Globalscope Partners.
