Patricia Industries, a division of Investor AB, signed an agreement to acquire Braun Ability, a family-owned company that manufactures wheelchair-accessible vehicles and wheelchair lifts. The deal is contingent on anti-trust approval, but it is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of this year.
Braunability’s management team would continue to lead operations, as well as own shares in Patricia Industries, which includes investments in majority-owned subsidiaries, such as Permobil, a provider of power and manual wheelchairs for people with physical disabilities.
Börje Ekholm, CEO of Patricia Industries, said BraunAbility’s history as a family-owned business and its focus on creating long-term value for customers, employees and shareholders fits that of Investor AB’s own culture. Investor has a net asset value of approximately $36 billion. The company said its long-term investment strategy is to actively support the building and development of “best-in-class” companies. Investor also owns many publicly traded firms, such as Atlas Copco, ABB, AstraZeneca, Electrolux, Ericsson and NASDAQ.
“Given our long-term value creation objectives and experience within both healthcare and mobility, we believe that Patricia Industries is well positioned to support BraunAbility in its continued progress and development,” Ekholm added. “Together with BraunAbility’s dedicated management and employees, we look forward to contributing to the Company’s continued success.”
BraunAbility’s President and CEO Nick Gutwein said the support of Investor positions will allow his company to accelerate growth rates through product innovation, further development of the brand promise with its customers and expansion into global markets.
“As an owner, Investor shares our commitment to serve wheelchair users around the world through lasting customer relationships built on trust,” he added. “Together, we will advance our mission to provide products and services that improve human life with the most trusted lineup of transportation mobility solutions in the world. This is a tremendous opportunity to extend for decades the legacy that our founder Ralph Braun built. ”
Ralph Braun was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy as a child. As a teenager, he created a motorized wagon to help him get around. By the mid 1960s, he engineered the first battery-powered scooter. He then designed the world’s first wheelchair accessible vehicle, adding a wheelchair lift by 1970, and started The Braun Corporation two years later.
“The company is the clear leader in its markets and has been very well served by its talented and dedicated management and employees,” commented Noah Walley, head of North American Investments for Patricia Industries. “We believe there is a great opportunity to work with this team to continue to pursue Ralph Braun’s vision and build the scale and scope of the business further over the years to come.”
