In 1998, the bed company KungSängen was formed by Micael Viberg which has since then developed into one of Sweden’s leading bed manufacturers. KungSängen offers its customers a unique handmade product, and as former owner Peter Gustafsson said, “The customer want to know that the bed is made of human hands, not by robots”
About 10 years after the creation of KungSängen, the company moved its production to Enköping and at the same time launched an intensive television advertising campaign that seriously put the name KungSängen on the map. The volumes increased significantly and KungSängen produced more than 40 000 beds in 2012. All production and assembly of the beds takes place in Enköping.
At the same time as the company grew, the more it had to streamline the production. at this point Peter Gustafsson entered the company and became an owner. Peter, with a past in IKEA, made sure to implement LEAN in production and continued to drive the company and its production on the right track during the following years.
The transaction process
KungSängen has about 35 stores spread across Sweden where they sell their beds and since 2014 they also sell via their webshop. In 2015, Peter Gustafsson felt that help was needed on the sales and marketing side to further grow the company at the right pace and chose to engage in a process of finding new potential owners who could provide the right resources.
The process of finding new owners started in spring 2015, and for Peters’s part it was highly relevant to find a buying party who understood the uniqueness of KungSängen and how to further develop the company. Maintaining the competent staff, safeguarding KungSängen’s strong brand and retaining local production in Sweden were some o the things that were highly prioritized for Peter. The important thing was not to make a quick transaction, the important thing was to find the right buyer.
After a few months of intensive work and meetings with several potential buyers, the election was completed by autumn 2015, and KungSängen chose to sell to Litorina Capital Advisors buying. During a number of meetings, it was crystallized that it was a very good match between the parties and that Litorina has the experience and knowledge of the retail business that KungSängen could benefit from. Litorina was early to see that KungSängen was a unique player in the bed market and that there was good potential for continued good growth. The ambition of the acquisition was to strengthen KungSängen’s position in the Swedish and Nordic bed market. This would be achieved together with management by developing customer offerings as well as working with sales and channel strategies. This ambition and strategy was something that, to a great extent, appealed Peter Gustafsson. Peter Gustafsson chose to reinvest a small portion in KungSängen and remain in the board.
