Swedish investor buys into Winamac's largest employer

BraunAbility announced this week that Patricia Industries is acquiring the company, its first time buying interest in a private firm in the U.S.

Patricia is a division of Investor AB, a $36 billion investment firm based in Sweden with interests in several publicly traded firms in Europe, according to a BraunAbility press release.

Patricia "vigorously pursued" purchasing BraunAbility starting about April this year, according to BraunAbility CEO Nick Gutwein.

"We were not at all looking to sell," Gutwein said. "They approached us and we were intrigued by them. We liked the kind of company they were, so we listened for a while."

Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Investor was started by the Wallenberg family and is now publicly traded in the Swedish market. It has historically invested in mostly publicly traded Swedish companies. More recently it branched out to purchase wholly owned private companies. Its Patricia Industries division was created to cover the private companies.

One of the Swedish companies Patricia owns, Permobil, is a leading manufacturer worldwide of power wheelchairs. The firm has a presence in Nashville, Tennessee, Gutwein said.

"In many ways, probably their experience in that part of the industry gives them a window into what we do," he added. "They found out about us and they were very attracted to us."

BraunAbility, which employs about 900 in Winamac and another 300 at other locations, will be Patricia's first U.S. purchase.

When Pulaski County Community Development Director Nathan Origer first learned about the acquisition, "my stomach hit the floor," he said. "But once I had time to talk to some people, do a little research, this is a good thing."

"They're a pretty fascinating company," Origer explained. While publicly traded, "it is still run by the Wallenberg family whose ancestor started it. We're talking a family who's got a Wikipedia page about them."

The firm's major shareholders are charitable foundations set up by the Wallenberg family, he said. With credentials like that, Origer said he felt there couldn't be a better publicly traded foreign firm to buy into BraunAbility.

"What this really means, as far as I see it, is access to capital that Braun did not have before to grow the company," Origer said. "I'm not worried."

On BraunAbility's part, company leaders liked the firm's investment approach.

"They have a long-term approach to holding their companies and building value over time, which was absolutely essential to us," Gutwein said. "We would not sell to someone who looked at us as a purely financial short-term investment."

Much of the cash generated is also funneled into medical and other research at Swedish universities, Gutwein added.

Börje Ekholm, CEO of Patricia Industries, said in the press release that the company's shared values and experience in the healthcare and mobility industries made them well matched.

"We believe that Patricia Industries is well positioned to support BraunAbility in its continued progress and development," Ekholm said in the release.

Patricia plans to establish offices in New York to oversee its North American holdings, Gutwein said. BraunAbility's management team will remain in Winamac and continues to be owners in the company.