Our engagement with PR electronics, a second-generation family-owned firm, began when we were awarded the mandate to find a new owner.
We were chosen based on our strong reputation and relationships within the Danish investment community, and deep sector knowledge, This, combined with our understanding of what the business meant to the family selling it was a key factor in our favour.
PR electronics is a Danish success story. It is a company that operates at the cutting edge of industrial technology. It specialises in signal conditioning devices, which enhance the digital measurements taken from the many touchpoints across an industrial process to help automate and analyse the data and improve efficiency.
Such devices have use cases across many industries and will continue to play a vital role in the future.
The ability to respond to a joint proposal which changed the dynamics of a deal for the better, for all parties.
Working together for the greater good
We knew Kirk Kapital very well, personally and professionally. It is one of Denmark’s leading investors and focuses on Danish companies. Its owners, the Kirk Johansen family, are descendants of Ole Kirk Christiansen, the man who set up LEGO in 1934.
AGIC Capital, we knew was a growth-oriented private equity firm with a strong interest in industrial tech.
Both companies had been on our list of interested parties and it was soon clear that a joint bid from AGIC and Kirk would work well.
Heritage, bankability, growth
We were always aware that the reputation of the business and maintaining its heritage was as important to the family. After the sale, the business is still owned by Danish investors. The Danish roots, and an awareness of the importance of keeping the ‘Danish-ness’ of PR electronics, appealed to the family.
From our perspective, the PR electronics sale to AGIC and Kirk illustrates our ability to deliver exactly what the client wants. In this case, we were able to find the right buyer for the business who was prepared to pay what the business was worth, while still accommodating the softer values so important to the Rasmussen family.
Understanding the past as part of its future
The company’s background is an important factor in how we approached the sale. PR electronics was founded in 1974 by Peter Rasmussen. His son Kim became CEO in 2009 and was in charge when we were appointed. Over the years, the family had been stepping back from operations, allowing the business to be managed independently. In 2022 Kim handed the CEO role to then sales director, Simon Bisbo, who was instrumental in helping the family choose which direction to take.
Its heritage also includes ongoing commercial success and the establishment of an impressive global footprint of sales subsidiaries and distributors. It is also very proud of its role as a poster child for Danish technology excellence.
Remaining true to its heritage was an important criterion as the process progressed.
With a strong history of profitability and a world-leading product portfolio, PR electronics had been subject to, and declined, a number of M&A approaches over the years. The eventual winning bidders – Kirk Capital and AGIC Capital - was a partnership perfectly placed to deliver exactly what the family wanted – dedicated and talented investors, who could secure the future for the business as well as retaining its heritage.
The Clearwater difference
