Clearwater acted as financial adviser to the owner of Maki A/S (Maki), Niels Dahl-Nielsen, on the majority sale to private equity firm Industri Udvikling, and CCO Michael Jensen who will take on the role as CEO going forward. Niels Dahl-Nielsen will continue as co-owner, board member and as an executive adviser to the new CEO.
Maki is a leading distributor of traditional toys, games and baby products in the Nordics. With a portfolio of internationally acclaimed brands and proprietary products, the company supplies more than 1,500 customers, with approximately 5,000 Point of Sales (POS) across the Nordic region.
Maki has built its success on local presence and years of experience in the sourcing and marketing of toys and baby product brands. Since 2003, the company has shown steady growth under the management of Niels Dahl-Nielsen by strengthening the brand portfolio and distribution rights.
With this new partnership, the ambition for Maki is to further strengthen its market position in the Nordics with the addition of new brands as well as proprietary products.
The traditional toys and games industry is a mature market with distributors competing on network and service level. Demand is driven by creating targeted content and marketing initiatives. Recent analysis shows stable market growth for traditional toys and games in the Nordics and we expect to see continued activity in the sector with strong interest from both strategic and financial investors.
