Vondel Finance advises on SB Seating | BMA deal
Scandinavian Business Seating, one of the larger office chair manufacturers in Europe, has acquired Netherlands-based BMA Ergonomics. The move sees Scandinavian Business Seating add €17 million in revenue and over 90 professionals to its Benelux business, making it the largest player in the region. Vondel Finance, a boutique Dutch M&A advisory, acted as the financial advisor to the shareholders of seller BMA Ergonomics.
With over 460 professionals across production sites in Norway (Røros) and Sweden (Nässjö) and a sales network in 12 countries*, Scandinavian Business Seating (SB Seating) is one of the leading office chair manufacturers in the Nordic countries and Western Europe*. The Oslo-headquartered company has three main labels – HÅG, RH and RBM – and is in particular renowned for its ergonomics and functional designs.
In line with SB Seating’s growth strategy – the company is backed by Triton Private Equity – the firm has bought BMA Ergonomics, a Netherlands-based counterpart in the office chair industry. BMA was founded in 1988 and has over the year’s become a top-10 player in the Benelux, differentiating itself through its premium Axia branded line of chairs. “The acquisition of BMA Ergonomics is in line with our strategy to grow and will help us to strengthen our current position in Benelux”, comments Lars I. Røiri, CEO of SB Seating Group. The deal adds roughly €17 million in revenues to its estimated €105 - €110 million turnover, bringing it further up the European league tables and turning it into the “largest player within ergonomic office seating in Benelux”, says Røiri.
As part of the deal, all 90 employees of BMA Ergonomics will transfer to SB Seating, with BMA’s operations to be merged into the buyer’s existing organisation in the Netherlands, based in Etten-Leur. Koen van Eig, Managing Director of BMA, notes his company is “very enthusiastic” about the opportunity to become a part of “one of the leading companies in the world of seating.”
The transaction between the two does not come out of the blue – private equity backed BMA Ergonomics was**, on the back of a strategic orientation conducted a while ago, on the search for a partner. “We realised that we need to keep innovating and offering product and marketing improvements as well as more differentiated services for long term sustainable growth. As a result, we have been looking for partners that will strengthen our company”, reflects Van Eig. To support the target search and deal making process the company brought in the expertise of Vondel Finance, a boutique Dutch M&A advisory which operates from Haarlem. The corporate finance advisors guided the shareholders through the entire process – from the due diligence to the negotiation and deal closing stages, ultimately up to the announcement unveiled earlier this month.
Van Eig’s looks forward to the coming months: “We aim to become the power house of ergonomic seating in Europe.”
* The firm was founded in 2007 following the merger between HÅG (established in 1943), RBM (founded in 1975) and RH (active since 1977). The current brand Scandinavian Business Seating was adopted in the autumn of 2008.
** Key investors in BMA Ergonomics include ABN AMRO Participaties and Wadinko.
