The owners of Guardian Protection Products A/S have acquired a majority stake in the Swedish leather care manufacturer Leather Master Scandinavia AB. The two competing companies have become colleagues and will work together to strengthen the two brands on the international market.

Guardian Protection Products A/S is located in Vejen and has been producing and selling furniture care products since 2001.

Building mutual trust is an important task

Business Broker advised the two owners of Guardian Protection Products, Torben Villadsen and Anders Skovbølling. The key to a successful agreement on the acquisition of the company was to build mutual trust and accommodate the individual interests of the two sisters who owned the Swedish company.

Anders Skovbølling, who is also CEO of Guardian Protection Products, had wanted to take over Leather Master Scandinavia for some time. After several meetings between the two parties, they managed to reach an agreement and agree on a price.

"We had made an agreement with the sisters late one night and written it down on a napkin. But we needed to formalize the agreement and get some external parties to solve the small disagreements that existed," says Anders Skovbølling.

Swedish partner a strength

Business Broker up with a Swedish partner, Christian, who handled the negotiations together with Ulf Steiness from Business Broker.

"The process was good and we spent a lot of time building trust with the Swedish sellers and making a deal that was good for all parties. Christian speaks both Swedish and Danish and understands the Swedish culture. This made it easier to align expectations, not least with the two Swedish owners," explains Ulf Steiness.

The two sisters, Åsa Jörgensen and Sophia Jakobsen, were the third generation in Leather Master Scandinavia, but had different affiliations.

Åsa works in the company and her husband is the CEO. They wanted to continue running the company after a sale. A solution that was also in the interest of Guardian Protection Products.

Continued co-ownership was important

The result is an agreement where the Swedish family remains co-owners with a strong connection to the company. This helps to retain key employees and the value of the Leather Master brand.

"One of the challenges was to agree on fair terms in the ownership agreement. The parties naturally had different views, but we made sure to make ends meet," says Ulf Steiness.

Business Broker also Business Broker find a Swedish accountant and lawyer to represent the buyer in due-diligence and prepare documents for the Swedish authorities.

From competitors to family

Anders Skovbølling is extremely pleased that Business Broker the negotiations.

"It's good that we don't have to start a collaboration by picking knots. We used to be competitors. Now we're like family, and it's pretty important that we can continue with a really good CEO in Sweden," he says.

Anders Skovbølling also notes that Business Broker worked efficiently and saved him and Guardian Protection Products a lot of time.

"The process has gone smoothly, and we are especially happy that Christian was involved in creating a common understanding along the way and facilitating the cultural difference," he says.