New Ownership Opens New Opportunities [2007-09-04]

On August 21st 3i Group plc finalised the acquisition of the Inspecta Group from Finnish MB Funds, the former main owner. The deal has opened a lot of new opportunities for Inspecta, the leading provider of inspection, testing and certification services in the Nordic area. The new ownership structure will give Inspecta an opportunity to expand further into new regions and fields of business. Mr Simo Hassi, Group CEO, and Mr Ad Verkuyten, the new chairman of the board, recently met in Helsinki to talk about the future of the Inspecta Group.

Q: Which were the main reasons for the deal?

Simo Hassi (SH): As Inspecta was privatised through the investment company MB Funds five years ago, it was clear that a change of ownership would come sooner or later. First we had to learn how to make business and how to operate in an environment of competition. Now we have grown in the Nordic area and the Baltic countries to be a leading player in the market, now employing more than 1.000 people and with a turnover exceeding 100 MEUR. MB Funds is a domestic investor and we were approaching the limits of expansion with them as a partner.

Ad Verkuyten (AV): The 3i Group has changed its perspective from local business to a sector approach of Europe. The technical service sector was one of the focus areas, and the project group investigating the European market identified Inspecta as an interesting target for the future. When buying a company you need more knowledge than just to analyse the finances. In this case 3i has invested a lot of time to fi nd out what this sector needs in the future. When Inspecta came into focus, the strong regional market position weighed a lot. 3i aims to invest in growth and to achieve growth you have to appreciate knowledge. Simo and his team have done a great job during the first phase of expansion. The present time is a good moment to change ownership

Q. How will Inspecta benefit from the new ownership?

AV: MB Funds showed that a private equity company should grow healthily regarding the right balance of everybody involved. As Inspecta has grown and established itself as a major company in its field, a change of ownership will be a good moment to look at future operations. The changes will be initiated from the market side and the further expansion, including new services, will be possible thanks to the strong fi nancial resources of 3i. Inspecta has to develop packets of service offering the customers a high utilisation degree and economic benefits within a large service scope. The intention of 3i is to help Inspecta to grow through enhancing its resources.

SH: The deal has provided an excellent platform for strategic planning regarding long term development. Our path into the future is now very clear; we are into further internationalisation and we are heading to be a leading TIC company in a European scale. The market is still much undeveloped in many parts of Europe. In several countries the services are based on a structure of public authorities, while Inspecta sees this business as an ordinary commercial sector. National operators will have to understand the necessity of changes. Inspecta is already far into the process leading to a transformation of the whole market.

Q: Will Inspecta face changes in its structure as a result of the deal?

SH: A fast growing company is always in the process of change. When Inspecta was privatised in 2002 it caused some uncertainty among the staff and when Inspecta expanded into Sweden by acquiring the testing and inspecting operations of DNV it also raised many questions about the future. The change of name in Sweden was a major challenge, but the new brand has been accepted by the Swedish market in less than two years.
But, regarding the present deal the first comments from the staff revealed a positive attitude. It was also considered as a great advantage that our new chairman, Ad Verkuyten, knows the business from his years as CEO of the Dutch testing company RTD. The business atmosphere of Inspecta is very strong, which makes me happy. Everybody at Inspecta is working with very important things, increasing safety and security in the industry and other parts of our society. Our job has a meaning in many ways. Changing ownership is a very, very good process for me and the management – we have to consider the planning and to analyse the new possibilities with 3i as a financially strong international owner. We will still operate from our new head quarter in Espoo in Finland, close to the Technical University of Helsinki and the main offices of Nokia, Kone and Fortum, a very inspiring environment. We will also focus on completing the integration between the Finnish and Swedish parts of the group. Other main fields are marketing and communication of the brand.

AV: It is very important to spend time and money strengthening the platform of Inspecta regarding the preparations for further internationalisation. This will include CRM and other systems at the corporate level to enable fast integration of new units into the group. Inspecta will also have to continue raising the competence level and to develop the brand. I am happy to notice that the Inspecta staff is very dedicated to supplying the services they do. The success internationally starts with respect for the local markets. I’m here in this position as an independent chairman to see that Inspecta is growing and developing – if there are things we can do in a different way or better we should not fear changing our course.

Author: Tage Eriksson
Legally responsible: Mats Bergman

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