Innovative European lure brand seeking investor ‘to grow faster’

After a decade of product development that now delivers €2m in annual sales, Sweden’s HEADBANGER is opening itself up to investors that can take the brand to the next level, in both Europe and North America.

Co-Founder Dan Lestander told Angling International: “We have invested a lot of resources in product development for a number of years now and are starting to have a broad portfolio of really innovative baits for our target markets – the majority of which are patent protected. These include hard, soft and topwater baits alongside terminal tackle. We also have a lot of exciting products coming out over the next few years.”

Lestander is an artist and passionate angler. After an unsuccessful search for a long-casting lure that also moved with a pattern that did not repeat itself like traditional baits did, he realised he had to design one himself, as so HEADBANGER was brought into being. Lestander spent more than four years finding the key to making the lure behave the way he wanted it to and using his skills as a professional sculptor, he made over 50 different prototypes to test his theories. The result of his discoveries was a revolutionary construction that made the lures behave in a way he could never have dreamt. This spawned ideas for a number of different lures that have been created with this, now patented, technical construction.

Lestander’s fellow Co-Founder, Martin Englemark, added: “Although we are still a small company, we have grown our turnover to over €2m this year. Now is the time to scale up the sales part of the business. It makes sense for us to join forces with someone who has the areas of expertise we lack. We could raise capital from other sources, but we prefer a business from within the industry that has sales and marketing expertise and an existing distribution network, because it will allow the brand to grow faster. We are open to discussing all types of options, including selling a majority stake in the business or even all the shares if the deal was right.”

Engelmark added that HEADBANGER would be an ideal investment for a company that has no bait brands and is looking for a strong addition to its portfolio or a company that has one or more bait brands but wants another clearly differentiated one. “Our company offers a very different brand of innovative lures and a strong product development background.

“Our products are so unique that they would be a great fit for a bigger company that wants to add more bait brands to its portfolio. It could also be a business looking at the US market, but needing a product line that can do well there, or the other way around. We are open to all scenarios.”

Engelmark said that an ideal partner for HEADBANGER would be one that appreciates the brand and is committed to seeing it grow. “Finding a partner that is already up and running with the skills and resources we need is the right way forward because it enables us to continue to do what we do best – developing new and truly unique products. That is in our DNA.

“HEADBANGER would be a great investment as it will add our skills as product developers to their team. An ideal investor should appreciate what HEADBANGER has to offer and be prepared to put money into the company to help grow the brand and enjoy the journey of making it more successful. Growth of HEADBANGER is key. Our aim is to increase revenue by three to five times more than we are currently achieving.”

• The founders of HEADBANGER believe the potential is there to increase sales five times over. Do you have the infrastructure to make that happen? Make contact using the details below:

+46 70 559 1986
martin@headbangerlures.com
www.headbangerlures.com