International group Design Holding is acquiring a majority shareholding in Denmark-based Designers Company, which owns brands including Menu, from investment company Polaris.
Polaris announced that it had entered into an agreement to divest its majority shareholding in Designers Company to Design Holding for an undisclosed price.
Design Holding will now add Designers Company's brands, which include furniture companies Menu, By Lassen and Brdr Petersen as well as The Audo hotel, to its portfolio.
Founded in 2018, Design Holding is the owner of a number of international brands including Flos, B&B Italia, Louis Poulsen and Arclinea.
Brands "perfect fit" for Design Holding
Design Holding believes that the Menu, By Lassen and Brdr Petersen brands will compliment its existing brands.
"Designers Company has a strong portfolio of iconic designs and products, appealing strongly to the customers we address globally," said Daniel Lalonde, CEO of Design Holding.
"The company is a perfect fit with its attractive Nordic design expression, which is a strong complementary element in the Design Holding family, and we look forward to accelerating the company’s global ambitions in the coming years."
Designers Company ready "to reach its full potential"
According to Polaris, Designers Company has "strengthened its foundation" in recent years with revenue in the fiscal year ending September 2021 approaching DKK 400 million (€50 million). The US is currently the group's largest market.
"Designers Company has created a fantastic business and generated strong results under our ownership, and we are pleased to pass the baton to Design Holding, which is a leading global player within high-end design," said Allan Bach Pedersen, partner at Polaris.
"Following the strong developments in recent years, Designers Company is ready to reach its full potential on the global scene, and it is a great acknowledgment of management and employees that the company will become part of Design Holding’s global portfolio of high-end design brands."
Menu has worked with a number of Danish architects and designers, including architect Danielle Siggerud, who designed a dining table for the brand, and studio Norm Architects, which designed a collection of lighting (main image) for the company.
Menu and Norm Architects also worked together on The Audo, a hotel in Copenhagen's Nordhavn area that doubles as a showroom and houses Menu's headquarters.