With the help of advice from Business Broker , Høj El & Automation has been Business Broker to Motus Nordic Group, which is owned by Bagger-Sørensen Equity A/S. This solution strengthens Høj El & Automation's organization and development opportunities.

The company is located in Ejstrupholm and has for more than 40 years developed into a very strong player in the automation and installation field with large loyal industrial customers.

Would sell for a better everyday life

In recent years, Høj El & Automation was owned by four employees, with the two majority owners in charge of management. The task of managing the 50 or so employees, meeting increased documentation requirements and handling more and more orders was becoming more and more demanding - something had to be done.

"For the past three years, we've tried to solve the challenges with advice from consultants, but it didn't help. That's why we wanted to see if a sale could solve our challenges," says former CEO and owner-manager, Brian Skærlund.

It can. More on that later.

Brian Skærlund and the other majority owner, Technical Director Jakob Jessen, initiated a preliminary dialogue with Business Broker the recommendation of someone in their network who had previously worked with Business Broker.

They were convinced that a sale was a good and realistic solution. The two minority owners were then involved and they supported a sales process.

Competitive sales process with multiple buyers

Business Brokers Klaus Termansen and Michael Vadgaard Jørgensen, drawing on their extensive knowledge of the industry and working closely with the sellers, identified a number of suitable buyer candidates for the company who could fulfill the sellers' wishes for the future.

During the sales process, Business Broker conducts Business Broker screening process among the identified buyers and is left with a small handful of particularly suitable buyers who were both a good match and interested in purchasing Høj El & Automation.

"It was a competitive sales process where we were in dialog with several buyers at the same time. Høj El & Automation is a good and healthy company in a growing market. This creates interest and demand," says Klaus Termansen.

It was during this part of the sales process that the seller realized how important it was to have a professional and experienced advisor.

"In principle, we could have found a buyer ourselves, but we would not have been able to conduct negotiations with multiple buyers without Business Broker. We would never have achieved the terms that we have now, especially since we also had to run the business at the same time," says Brian Skærlund.

The solution was decisive - not the price

However, it was not the highest bidder who was allowed to buy, and Business Broker not only the price but also other terms and conditions.

"Despite other matching bids with the possibility of a higher sales price, the choice fell on Motus Nordic Group, which offered a better strategic match with the seller's wishes to stay in the company and gear the organization to the tasks. In addition, there was a community of values with a strong focus on customer satisfaction," says Michael Vadgaard Jørgensen.

The benefits of the sale to Motus Nordic Group were several:

• The four owners are almost 50 years old, and they will have the opportunity to continue working in the company as they wish.
• The domicile property was included in the deal. This makes it easier to believe that the company will stay in Ejstrupholm.
• The buyer was interested in both parts of the business - both automation and installation.
• Motus Nordic Group has strengthened its management team with a new CEO, Preben Jakobsen, who is also CEO of NTO, one of the other companies in the group.
• Brian Skærlund and Jakob Jessen will continue as operations managers, but will be relieved with additional management capacity and help with future organization.

"Business Broker working to find the best solution. With the final bid from Motus Nordic Group, we could tell that we were in the right place. They have a genuine desire to understand our business, help Høj El & Automation move forward, and relieve us in management," says Brian Skærlund.

5 companies with great synergy

Motus Nordic Group now consists of five companies that together offer great opportunities for synergies and joint growth. Together, the companies can offer end-2-end solutions for automation and digitalization in food, industry and transport companies.

Høj El & Automation is an important part of that strategy.

"I believe in this and so do the customers. We have some customers who have already asked for a meeting about the new opportunities. Høj El & Automation remains, and now we dare to think about growth and development and believe that we can lift it in the organization," says Brian Skærlund.

HØJ EL & AUTOMATION ApS

Motus Nordic Group
acquired Høj El & Automation ApS

Task: Change of ownership in multi-owner company specializing in automation and electrical installation.

Solution: Strategic sale to Motus Nordic Group, which with the acquisition of Høj El & Automation becomes an end-to-end partner in automation and digitalization of food, industrial and logistics companies.

Result: Høj El & Automation gains stronger leadership and synergies with the other companies in Motus Nordic Group.

Høj El og Automation is a strong player in the automation and installation field with approximately 50 employees.

Brian Skærlund highlights three things:

• Business Broker incredibly good at understanding the concerns we had along the way and reassuring us throughout the entire process.
• Business Broker the negotiations professionally, achieving the best possible result.
• Business Broker us well informed about the process and was always available—even when they were on a skiing vacation.