DPJ Workspace acquired by AJ Produkter
Livingstone has acted as advisor to the founder and owner of DPJ Workspace (“DPJ”) in the sale to AJ Produkter . DPJ has grown strongly in recent years and the company has established a leading position in the office interior market, with a primary focus on e-commerce.
DPJ was started in 1995 by Dick Peter Johansson. The business idea is to help companies in change to a functional and pleasant work environment. This includes, for example, the sale, delivery and installation of furniture and furnishings for offices and public environments. DPJ is established in large parts of Europe and supplies everything from individual home workplaces to entire office furnishings for companies with thousands of employees. With over 36,000 items, of which approx. 6,000 in stock, DPJ offers one of the market’s widest selections of furniture and furnishings within the Workspace segment. The company’s turnover last year (2021) was SEK 461 million – a growth of 86% compared to the year before (2020). The majority of sales take place via its own e-commerce, where the company offers both its own and external brands.
For us, it was not obvious to bring a financial advisor into the sales process. However, we chose to hire Livingstone and during the journey we have realized what a fantastic value this has been. The team at Livingstone has far exceeded my expectations, their hard work and dedication has been invaluable in the process. Livingstone has both driven the process forward and served as an important sounding board for me and the management in various questions and analyses
PETER JOHANSSON, CEO AND OWNER OF DPJ.
“It has been inspiring to work with Peter who impressively built a leading e-commerce for products for the workplace. With AJ Produkter as the new owner, DPJ will become even stronger and continue its growth journey in Europe,” says Henrik Widlund, Partner at Livingstone.
The transaction means that AJ Produkter acquires DPJ, which is estimated to add approximately half a billion kroner to AJ Produkter’s existing turnover of around three billion kroner. The acquisition is a step in AJ Produkter’s objective to create a stronger position on the market for office solutions in Sweden and Europe. The companies complement each other by attracting different segments in the market while positive synergies are expected.
“DPJ has made an impressive journey and really stands out in the market. We have followed the company over time and are now very happy to continue the journey together. DPJ complements AJ Products very well. They have succeeded in taking a clear position towards an exciting customer group and we see that we can continue to grow successfully in parallel as completely separate companies” , says Enock Johansson, CEO of AJ Produkter.
AJ Produkter sells furnishings for workplaces, including for offices, industries, warehouse furnishings and school environments. The interior design company was started in 1975 and has since been run by the Johansson family. AJ Produkter has around 1,000 employees and is active in around 20 markets around Europe.
Livingstone’s team thus completes another transaction in the sector after transactions such as the sale of Hafa Bathroom Group to BHG Group , the sale of Loviseberg Presseri to SEB Private Equity and the sale of INR to Dansani .
Livingstone was the exclusive financial advisor and Wigge & Partners was the legal advisor to DPJ Workspace in the sale process.
