OEM primarily pursues three types of acquisitions, with the first two being the most common:
The CEOs and business area managers of OEM's operations have the primary responsibility for seeking and identifying potential acquisition candidates. OEM also works with brokers, accounting firms and banks who provide leads for interesting companies. OEM strives to engage in dialogue at an early stage with the owners of potential targets. This creates trusting relationships and provides the opportunity to demonstrate OEM's ambitions to be a long-term owner that can contribute to further developing and expanding operations after completed acquisitions. The ideal acquisition candidates have a number of common characteristics:
A strong commitment to the organisation and the business is an important part of OEM's culture. When analysing acquisition targets, there is therefore a strong focus on the business and areas such as the organisation, company culture, portfolio of offerings and future potential. In addition, a review of how OEM's other operations are affected by the acquisition, and what synergies can be realised, is carried out. Acquisitions can be carried out by OEM buying a company, with or without the previous owners remaining in the company, or by OEM buying a company’s operations, known as asset acquisitions.
Based on the philosophy of being an active and long-term owner, OEM develops a plan to further develop the acquired business during the acquisition process. In many cases, OEM can capitalise on existing operations to open up new markets and customer groups and develop the range through its wide network of contacts with manufacturers. The acquired company can continue to operate as a separate company or can be integrated into one of the existing operations. The starting point for these considerations is what is best for the organisation and where the opportunities for development are the greatest.
