Changes
in ownership

Uncertain times are new, unique opportunities for your potential life deal. Take advantage of our extensive experience – we have been investing together with managers for over 25 years.

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From manager to co-owner

Ownership changes can be an opportunity for you to become a co-owner of the company and have a real impact on the acquisition process itself and the strategy of your company. Of course, this also means that you can earn significant amounts of money if the company’s value increases. We appreciate those people who come to us with a good business idea. We implement these projects together – on a partnership basis.

Why now?

Uncertain times favour brave managers. The crisis on the market may be an opportunity and a challenge for you, not a threat. If the opportunity presents itself, it is worth taking the initiative and carrying out the ownership changes in your company.

Why with us?

Many owners are thinking about the future of the business and considering various options. Now is the time to decide and work with a reliable partner. Times of uncertainty have always promoted active managers and those unafraid of taking decisions.

We offer you not only financial but also substantive support if you can see opportunities for ownership changes in your company. With our help, it will be easier for you to negotiate things with a concern and go through the buyout process. Besides, after the transaction, we guarantee support in consistent implementation of the chosen development strategy.

Our principles are simple: as a fund, we trust your company, we allow it to develop, and we want to invest in it. Efficient and based on mutual trust cooperation of your management group with us is the key to a successful transaction.

Why don’t you gain control and become the owner of the company you have been working for successfully for years. Speed up its growth trajectory by working for yourself.

Company

Velvet CARE

The buyout of a company from a global concern is possible.
Our management group, in cooperation with Avallon MBO, took matters in their own hands too carry it out.
If you are a manager with extensive experience, independent, with knowledge and a vision of how the company should develop in the future – this is a good starting point for cooperation with an investment fund.
Artur Pielak
President of the Management Board of Velvet Care

In 2013, Avallon MBO acquired Velvet Care with the support of the company’s managers from the Kimberly-Clark concern. In 2018, the company was sold. At present, the main owner of Velvet Care is Abris Capital Partners.

What advice can you give to other managers who are considering undertaking similar steps for their companies? Is now the right time to do it?

The crisis has two faces – good and bad. This is a time of very difficult decisions in private life and in business. But the world belongs to the wise and brave. You just have to keep your eyes and ears open and look for opportunities or create such opportunities yourselves. The momentum that everyone had in times of prosperity has slowed down. The moment of truth has come, and for some companies it means the time of restructuring. This may be an opportunity for resourceful managers to take over their companies and cooperate with private equity funds.

Why did you decide to start cooperation with the Avallon MBO fund?

It was important for us to find an investor who would not only enter with the capital, but also be a partner for us during the development of further business after the transaction. From our point of view, Avallon turned out to be an ideal investor who believes in the company, allows it to develop and it is willing to invest in it. Apart from putting the money up for the transaction, Avallon was very supportive of the management group during the lengthy negotiation and transaction process.

What effects did the cooperation bring?

The finalization of the transaction was just a prelude. The next part, i.e., the development of the company, was much more important. And here, again, the cooperation with Avallon MBO was very good. The turnover increased from PLN 230 million in 2014 to over PLN 400 million in the years 2014-2017. Employment increased from 320 people to 530. We doubled our production capacity. We purchased 5 ultra-modern processing machines and built a new warehouse. We built one of the largest investments in the history of this company – a paper machine. In 6 years, we managed to invest much more than two renowned American corporations did in 17 years.

How to best choose partners and a team for such projects?

The right partners – the management group and the fund – are the second pillar of the company’s success, after its strategy. What counts here are common goals, motivation and a sense of responsibility for the implementation of those goals. It is important that managers have knowledge of many areas of business and form a diverse management group that guarantees safety. You can go far only by cooperating closely.

Results of the undertaken actions

Efficient conduct of negotiations with the concern.
Creating the basis for the development of an independent organization operating outside the structures of an international concern; launching new lines of credit, introducing a new brand icon and corporate visualization, building a purchasing department and improving the computer systems.
Dynamic development of the company during the fund’s investment period – increase in employment from 320 people to 530; increase in sales from PLN 230 million to PLN 400 million in 2017.
Becoming the undisputed market leader in the main product categories.
Consistent implementation of development investments – a total of approx. PLN 250 million was invested in machines in the years 2013-2017, which allowed to double the production capacity and build the largest investment in the history of this company – a new paper machine.
These are interesting times for good managers. The good ones are not afraid of a crisis or sudden changes in the market. Such circumstances should be an opportunity and a challenge for them rather than a threat.
Zbigniew Plaza
Managing Partner of Boyden

Uncertain times are an opportunity for the best managers

You have survived many crises while working in the environment of top managers. What is happening now in the offices of experiences corporations and family companies?

These are interesting times for good managers. They are distinguished by that they are not afraid of a crisis or sudden changes in the market. It is an opportunity and a challenge for them, not a threat. Hence, when there is an opportunity for a change of ownership, e.g., in the MBO formula or for a new deal in the form of M&A activity, the manager is ready. The current ferment will result in very interesting changes on the market, also in the sphere of the hierarchy of managers and companies.

What effectively knocks out presidents and managers from corpo-automatism and awakens entrepreneurship in them?

More and more high-level leaders understand that entrepreneurship is not about leaving a corporation and opening a restaurant that goes bankrupt after a few months. The first step is to reflect on how measurable or countable for shareholders or owners results the manager’s work brings. The second step is the willingness to go where managing is connected with owning shares in the company or building a pension or inheritance for the next generations in the family. This was the case, for example, in Kimberly-Clark (today Velvet Care) or in Wosana, where top managers from Pepsi and Danone are involved.

You sometimes say that many managers still don’t have a plan “B” in their head. Why should they need plan “B” when plan “A” works well?

Some CEOs of large companies in Poland often work without a plan “B”. For them, a corporation is their super comfortable zone – a big car, an assistant, whole staff of people, a comfortable life in … a golden cage. However, in the event of loss of position, it turns out that there are not too many similar golden cages and all of them are occupied. Waiting for another, equally good job can take years. Hence the need for a “B” plan, in which the manager is active in preparing various career options, including those in which he himself becomes a co-owner of the company with the support of the investor.

Yet isn’t it an equally good way for Polish people to escape from the ceiling in the golden cage of corporations through promotions abroad?

It is an interesting direction, especially in Europe, where the corporate culture is quickly unifying, which eliminates a lot of clashes and differences. Poles are great in terms of competence, for example in the expansion and development of companies, although they may lack some knowledge and experience in finance. Let’s not kid ourselves, however, like the history of the takeover of German Meyra by the Poles shows, the position of a manager from our region is much more favourable and stronger if he enters a Western company not only as a president, but also as a co-owner. And such a possibility is not usually offered by corporations or family businesses.