Workplace furnishings experts DPJ and AJ Produkter now jointly equip following advisory from Livingstone

Livingstone has acted as exclusive financial advisor to the founder and owner of DPJ Workspace (“DPJ”) on the sale to AJ Produkter. DPJ has grown rapidly in recent years and the company has established a leading position in the office interior market, with a primary focus on e-commerce.

DPJ was founded in 1995 by Dick Peter Johansson with the vision to help companies on their way to a functional and pleasant working environment. This includes, e.g., sales, delivery, and installation of furniture and furnishings for offices and public environments. DPJ is established in large parts of Europe and supplies everything from individual home workplaces to entire office furnishings for companies with thousands of employees. With more than 36,000 items, of which approximately 6,000 are in stock, DPJ offers one of the market’s widest selections of furniture and furnishings within the Workspace segment. The company had a turnover of SEK 461 million in 2021 – achieving a growth rate of 86% compared to 2020. Most sales are generated via e-commerce, where the company offers both its own and external brands.

“For us, involving a financial advisor in the sales process was not an easy decision. However, we chose to work with Livingstone, and during the process we have realized how valuable this has been. The team at Livingstone has overachieved my expectations and their hard work and dedication have been invaluable in this process. Livingstone has both enabled and supported a structured way of executing the process and served as an important sounding board for me and the management team in various questions and analyses”, says Peter Johansson, CEO and owner of DPJ.

“It has been inspiring to work with Peter who has impressively built a leading e-commerce for workspace products. With AJ Produkter as the new owner, DPJ will become even stronger and continue its growth journey in Europe”, says Henrik Widlund, Partner at Livingstone.

AJ Produkter acquires DPJ, which will add around half a billion (SEK) to AJ Produkter’s existing turnover of around three billion (SEK). The acquisition is in line with AJ Produkter’s vision to create a stronger position in the market for office solutions in Sweden and Europe. The companies complement each other by attracting different segments in the market while synergies are expected to be achieved.

“DPJ has experienced an impressive growth journey and really stands out in the market. We (AJ Produkter) have followed the company for a long time and are now very happy to continue the journey together. DPJ has succeeded in establishing a distinct position towards an interesting customer group and we see that we can continue to grow successfully in parallel as separate companies”, says Enock Johansson, CEO at AJ Produkter.

AJ Produkter sells furnishings for the workplace, including office, industrial, warehouse and school furnishings. The interior design company was founded in 1975 and has since been run by the Johansson family. AJ Produkter has approximately 1,000 employees and is currently operating in approximately 20 markets around Europe.

Livingstone’s team thereby completes another transaction in the sector, following the sale of Hafa Bathroom Group to BHG Group, the sale of Loviseberg Presseri to SEB Private Equity, and the sale of INR to Dansani.

Wigge & Partners acted as legal advisor to DPJ Workspace during the sales process