Thursfields advises on sale of Birmingham smart buildings experts to Scandinavian group
The corporate team at Thursfields Solicitors has advised the principal shareholders of Birmingham-headquartered Demma Group Ltd on its sale to Nordomatic Group, the leading smart buildings integrator across Scandinavia.
Corporate and Employment Advice
Thursfields director Gareth Burge and Joe Rollins provided corporate advice, assisted by Lisa Kemp on employment issues and Robert Pettigrew on commercial property matters.
Gareth Burge said: “Demma is a substantial business with its head office at Coleshill Manor Office Campus and has offices and operations in London, Manchester and Glasgow.
“The business was founded by Gary Poulton in 1989 and in 1991 he was joined by his partner Dave Connell. The two founders have built a very sustainable business with long-lasting customer relations and a very low employee churn.”
Today, Demma serves hundreds of repeat customers and employs more than 135 smart building experts.
The deal means that Nordomatic Holdings UK has acquired all shares in Demma Group Ltd, with Gary Poulton and Dave Connell reinvesting part of their proceedings in the Nordomatic Group top company in Sweden. The Demma brand will remain and there will be no organisational changes in the Demma Group.
Gary Poulton said: “Dave and I have been approached by many potential partners over the years, and we were really impressed by the proposal we received from Olov Schagerlund, president and CEO of Nordomatic Group.
“Nordomatic has done a fantastic job in transforming the building energy management systems market in Scandinavia with innovative smart buildings solutions, and we immediately understood that Demma would fit nicely into this specialised international group and that our employees and customers would benefit from this partnership.
“We will continue to run the business in the UK and, with Nordomatic as the owner, will be able to invest and become a bit braver in our growth plan.”
He added: “The legal process was handled extremely well by Gareth Burge and Joe Rollins, and the whole team at Thursfields.
“Nothing was too much trouble, and they were available for advice any time and day of the week. It was a real pleasure to work with Gareth and Joe, who helped us step by step through a very complicated process. We got to know them really well over the last six months, and it was great to work with the Thursfields team – a job well done!”
Olov Schagerlund said: “I am thrilled to have Demma joining the Nordomatic Group. The company really is a perfect fit for us.
“We share the same values, and it was easy to agree on a joint strategic path towards becoming a global impact leader in smart buildings in the years to come. Gary and Dave have done an excellent job in building a successful and sustainable business, and we at Nordomatic will do our best to support the continued growth in the UK market, while also extending the service offering with cloud-based building management systems and energy services.”
This is the fourth acquisition by the Nordomatic Group in 2022, with Y-Con in the Netherlands, Nortech in Norway and Spica Technologies in the UK all now part of the group’s plan to become a global impact leader in 2025.
Other advisers to the principal shareholders of Demma Group Ltd included Kantar on Swedish law and Parisi Tax, Maguire Advisers on corporate finance with accountancy advice from Hayward Wright.
Advisers to Nordomatic included Andy Philips and Alexandra Kean of DLA on English law, Baker McKenzie on Swedish law, and accountants Deloitte.
