BraunAbility Acquired by Patricia Industries – a Division of Investor AB
Winamac, Indiana (PRWEB) September 23, 2015 -- Patricia Industries (“Patricia”), a division of Investor AB (“Investor”) focused on private companies, has signed an agreement to acquire BraunAbility, the industry leader in wheelchair accessible vehicles and wheelchair lifts. Investor is the Sweden-based investment company founded by the Wallenberg family over 100 years ago. BraunAbility will join a roster of high-quality, high growth companies in the Investor family, including Permobil, the innovative provider of power and manual wheelchairs for people with physical disabilities.
With a net asset value of approximately $36 billion, Investor pursues a long-term investment strategy where it can actively support the building and development of best-in-class companies, providing the resources and tools each company in its portfolio needs to reach its full potential. This commitment to generating attractive, sustainable returns with a long-term perspective has been a hallmark of Investor over five generations of stewardship by the Wallenberg family. The company owns a leading interest in many high performing publicly-traded traded firms.
“With the support of Investor, we will be positioned to accelerate our rate of growth, powered by product innovation, development of our brand promise within the communities we serve and continued expansion into global markets,” said Nick Gutwein, BraunAbility’s President and CEO. “As an owner, Investor shares our commitment to serve wheelchair users around the world through lasting customer relationships built on trust. Together, we will advance our mission to provide products and services that improve human life with the most trusted lineup of transportation mobility solutions in the world. This is a tremendous opportunity to extend for decades the legacy that our founder Ralph Braun built.”
“BraunAbility’s history as a family-owned business with a strong sense of mission and a consistent focus on creating long-term value for customers, employees and shareholders is a perfect fit with Investor’s own culture and values,” commented Börje Ekholm, CEO of Patricia Industries. “Given our long-term value creation objectives and experience within both healthcare and mobility, we believe that Patricia Industries is well positioned to support BraunAbility in its continued progress and development. Together with BraunAbility’s dedicated management and employees, we look forward to contributing to the Company’s continued success.”
“We have been most impressed by BraunAbility’s history of consistent growth and increasing profitability,” added Noah Walley, Head of North American Investments for Patricia Industries. “The Company is the clear leader in its markets and has been very well served by its talented and dedicated management and employees. We believe there is a great opportunity to work with this team to continue to pursue Ralph Braun’s vision and build the scale and scope of the business further over the years to come.”
BraunAbility will continue to be led by its management team who continue to be owners in the Company. The acquisition is subject to approval from the relevant competition authorities. Closing is expected during the fourth quarter of 2015.
About BraunAbility
BraunAbility is the world’s leading manufacturer of wheelchair accessible vehicles and wheelchair lifts for both personal use and commercial applications. Founded nearly 50 years ago by Ralph Braun, the company was built on the age-old adage, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Ralph Braun was a young man who used a wheelchair and had no reliable transportation to and from his place of work. He built his first wheelchair accessible vehicle in 1972, and since then, BraunAbility has grown into the most well-known and trusted brand in the mobility industry, bringing independence to tens of thousands of individuals around the world.
About Investor
Investor, founded by the Wallenberg family a hundred years ago, is the leading owner of high quality Nordic-based international companies. Through board participation, our industrial experience, network and financial strength, we strive to make our companies best-in-class. Our holdings include, among others, Atlas Copco, SEB, ABB, Ericsson and Mölnlycke Health Care.
Megan Wegner, BraunAbility, http://www.braunability.com, +1 (574) 946-4139 Ext: 3125, [email protected]
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