Private equity group becomes majority shareholder in Fairpoint Outdoors A/S

Danish tackle company Fairpoint Outdoors A/S has announced that a private equity fund is now the majority shareholder of its Westin and Kinetic brands.

The founders and, until now, sole owners of the business – Jens Buhl Jørgensen, Thomas Petersen Eldor and Thomas Lund Jespersen – revealed the deal had been made with the Capidea company, also based in Denmark. They also disclose that they have declined a number of other opportunities to sell the company outright.

Jorgensen will continue as CEO, Eldor remains Brand Director of Westin and Jespersen stays as Brand Director of Kinetic. All three remain ‘significant’ shareholders and members of the board.

“It has been vital for us to retain a considerable part of the ownership, as well as daily management of the company,” said Jørgensen. “Even though there were several opportunities to sell the entire company, we have chosen a co-investor who respects and understands that a lot of the company value lies in the people who founded it, the loyal employees who work hard every day to grow it and the strong, long-term relationships with the best quality manufacturers and customers in the industry.”

To support the growth of both brands, Fairpoint is increasing the size of its warehouse by 45% and its office and showroom by 50% in the coming year. It is also investing in new state-of-the-art IT systems to deliver what it describes as the ‘finest’ customer service in the in industry.

“We will maintain a strong product development programme, as well as introduce new product categories for both Westin and Kinetic,” says the announcement.

“With this we are building an even stronger platform to support and continue the already rapid growth of the company and its two popular fishing brands, Westin and Kinetic,” added CEO Jørgensen, who also stressed it is ‘business as usual’ for the company.