5th workshop in Denmark

The fifth Interregional policy learning workshop & peer review of the STOB regions project took place on 26th and 27th of June 2018. The first day was dedicated to introducing the participants to the thematic workshop topic: Valuation, rating and maintenance of value of companies in the transfer process.

Workshop host, Hudevad Radiators A/S producer and global supplier of heating systems, held in their production facilities and headquarters in Ribe, the oldest town in Denmark. The workshop location provided a perfect backdrop for the topic, given the company's history and experience within the topic through a series of successful Management buyouts.

Michael Boel Olesen, CEO of Hudevad Radiators A/S, welcomed the STOB regions partners and stakeholders and presented an overview of the company, in addition and of relevance to the workshop topic, delved deeper into the company's latest management buyout.


 
The second thematic lecture presented by Gitte kirkegaard, CEO and majority shareholder of Logitrans A/S, a leading manufacturer of material handling equipment. This good practice example highlighted a consecutive and successful family transfer across three generations.
 
Each of the STOB regions partners presented their contributions towards the workshop focusing on the topic from the perspective of their own region. Standout presentations included Finnish partner's stakeholder, Mr. Olli-Pekka Kemppainen, Head of Valuation and Business Modelling at Ernst & Young Finland, describing best practice approaches to valuation in Finland, utilizing the E&Y methodology. Key success indicators of E&Y's methodology provides the highest value of the business to be transferred, transparency and links to follow up action in addition to a higher level of internal awareness and understanding for the owners of the potential of their business.

Luis Borrajo Matari, Financial Area Manager, Japón y Matarí Consultores, a family business consultancy, provided the private sector's insight into business valuation and the succession process. Stakeholder presentations of good practice examples also were provided by Chamber of Crafts Frankfurt (Oder) and Malopolska Regional development Agency (PL).

Following the partners' contribution, a training session was organized to the common business valuation methods. Allan Clausen, Consultant at Business Development Centre - Southern Denmark, presented a case study task of a successful transfer case from the region. An evening tour of Esbjerg harbor rounded off the day.
Peer review on day two, began with a collection of presentations regarding the regional specificities of Southern Denmark. Jette P. Jørgensen, from the Centre for owner-managed businesses/Copenhagen Business School, provided a detailed insight into the Danish business landscape, figures show that for Southern Denmark there are expected to be c.3400 transfers within the next ten years.

Mona Nissen Bach, Project Manager at Business Development Centre - Southern Denmark, presented the Regional public business services. The services are project- and programme- based, with funding provided by national and EU level (nationally managed). In terms of concrete results, clients are growing significantly more than comparable companies.
Ulrik Uhrskov, presented the regional good practice, UdviklingVejen - Local transfer Network, an intimate network exclusively for the next generation aiming to take over the company in the short-to-medium term. The network is comprised of a maximum of eight participants: - made up of successors, as well as two external facilitators. Each meeting is themed based on the key challenges of succession, external expert speakers are invited to share knowledge on specific topics.

A panel discussion followed, the topics to be discussed included: 1) Can public business services make a difference in business transfer in the region? 2) Valuation methods and practice 3) Problems/challenges associated with valuation. It was highlighted and discussed that industrial development is important to track and must be taken into account into the growth plans of companies during the transfer process.

A regional-SWOT analysis and recommendation session finalized the day and the two-day event, with a collection of inputs for development and continuation to be used by the South Denmark region to strengthen the business transfer environment.
The project partners agreed for a joint additional output in the form of a Regional Succession Services Guidebook (RSS) to assist in shaping the action plans.

The fifth workshop provided the project partners a deeper understanding of the business transfer process in South Denmark and explored in great detail the theme of valuation whilst developing new ideas and recommendations for policy learning. The next IPL is to be held in Bucharest, Romania on 26th and 27th September 2018.

Presentations from the IPL meeting in Southern Denmark, and previous meetings can be found in our successionwiki here.