Case
Crem International
Crem International consisted of the Swedish coffee machine manufacturer Coffee Queen and a manufacturing subsidiary in China. Accent Equity Partners helped Crem International to grow sales by 17% with increasing margins and increased EBITDA almost fourfold.
INDUSTRY
Manufacturing, coffee machines
INVESTMENT THEME
Succession, international expansion
ENTRY YEAR
2007
EXIT YEAR
2012
Crem International consisted of the Swedish coffee machine manufacturer Coffee Queen and a manufacturing subsidiary in China. The company was the leading Nordic manufacturer and offered a full range of machines of traditional brewers to semi-automated machines and vending machines for office use.
Head office was located in Arvika (Sweden), with production facilities in Arvika (Sweden) and Shanghai (China). There were also sales subsidiaries in Norway and Germany.
Head office was located in Arvika (Sweden), with production facilities in Arvika (Sweden) and Shanghai (China). There were also sales subsidiaries in Norway and Germany.
Entry
Crem (Coffee Queen) was acquired from the founder in Aug 2007 together with the founder and Management.
What did the company need?
Value added
During Accent's five years of ownership the company has built a valuable global strategic position within professional coffee machines. In addition, a number of key initiatives driven by Accent have further enhanced Crem's strategic position:
Crem (Coffee Queen) was acquired from the founder in Aug 2007 together with the founder and Management.
What did the company need?
- Increased market share in Sweden and other core markets
- Strengthening of the product assortment and the export business
- Increased manufacturing in China (subsidiary started in 2006
Value added
During Accent's five years of ownership the company has built a valuable global strategic position within professional coffee machines. In addition, a number of key initiatives driven by Accent have further enhanced Crem's strategic position:
- Several strategic acquisitions in Europe, both within adjacent products and local distribution, among others Crem Aparatos Cafexpres in Spain
- Fortification of the Asian presence via a the production site and Asian sales force
- Focus on product development within vending machines and automatic espresso;
- Gain of key global OEM accounts on top of the own distribution network
- Evolution of the company from a local family-owned business to a global professionally managed entity
- Strengthening of Management team (CEO, CFO and CMO)
- More than tripled the number of employees, from 80 FTEs to around 260
“
During Accent's main ownership, we have grown considerably, successfully integrated our two companies and started on our journey towards becoming a global player in the professional coffee machine market
Exit
Following a slow period in the aftermath of the financial crisis, the company came
back on track in 2011, delivering an all time-high EBITDA.
The sales process resulted in a new group of owners by the end of 2012, consisting
of Management and the private equity investors Priveq Investment and SEB
Venture Capital.
Following a slow period in the aftermath of the financial crisis, the company came
back on track in 2011, delivering an all time-high EBITDA.
The sales process resulted in a new group of owners by the end of 2012, consisting
of Management and the private equity investors Priveq Investment and SEB
Venture Capital.
