From left: Flemming Windfeld, CEO, HOLMRIS B8 / Henrik Holmris, Founder and Creative Director, HOLMRIS B8 / Henrik Bjerregaard, CFO, HOLMRIS B8 / Mark van Ingen, Partner at Mentha / Peter Johansen, Partner at Mentha
HOLMRIS B8 partners with Mentha to accelerate international growth
Mentha has acquired HOLMRIS B8, the leading B2B provider of interior design solutions in Denmark. The partnership will accelerate HOLMRIS B8’s growth with strong organic and acquisitive opportunities, including further expansion into international markets.
HOLMRIS B8 is Denmark’s leading supplier of furniture and interior design solutions for the professional market. Building on rich century-old heritage, HOLMRIS B8 has been growing steadily since the early 2000s. During this time Henrik Holmris acted as CEO, representing the third generation in his family to serve in this capacity. Over the past six years, HOLMRIS B8 partnered with Copenhagen-based BWB Partners. Under their ownership, HOLMRIS merged with B8 to become Denmark’s market leader, and with new management at the helm followed a strategy that significantly increased its profit margin.
Flemming Windfeld, CEO of HOLMRIS B8: We are proud of the trajectory we’ve been on with BWB. We successfully transformed the business to an asset-light model in 2021, which allowed us to substantially increase our profitability and flexibility. We also further solidified our offering and services to create a one-stop-shop solution. As such, we’ve built an organization ready for the next phase of growth, and I look forward to that journey with Mentha.
With this solid foundation in place, Amsterdam-headquartered Mentha is excited at the opportunity to partner with HOLMRIS B8.
Mark van Ingen, Partner at Mentha adds: “We have been very impressed with HOLMRIS B8’s strong value proposition and loyal customer base, which includes nearly all Danish blue-chips. This segment is driven by strong market trends, such as the war for talent and new ways of working. HOLMRIS B8 has already started following these clients abroad, winning several global preferred partner agreements recently. At the same time, our market research has confirmed significant additional potential in North/West-European markets. We therefore believe that Mentha is the right partner to support the organization in this next phase, with our expertise in international growth and buy-and-build.”
Mentha has acquired 100% of HOLMRIS B8 from existing shareholders. Founder Henrik Holmris, CEO Flemming Windfeld, CFO Henrik Bjerregaard and other key management will all continue and reinvest alongside Mentha.
Henrik Holmris comments: “We are thrilled at the journey ahead together with Mentha. The broader management team feels they share the same entrepreneurial DNA, and bring the right experience in realizing ambitious international growth plans. Furthermore, driving the sustainable transformation of our industry is at the core of who we are, and I feel Mentha also really understands our vision here.”
Sustainability is one of the key trends in the market as both corporates and governments are setting ambitious targets, and hence look for ways to report on and reduce emissions. As such, players who can cater to this have a winning edge.
Peter Johansen, Partner at Mentha declares: “HOLMRIS B8 has developed a truly innovative offering, exemplified by its own fully circular brand RECRAFTED made from unique upcycled and recycled materials, and extensive sustainability services such as scope 2 and 3 reporting. Furthermore, the company is one of the only ones in the industry to have its climate targets SBTi certified. This not only aligns to our values, but we also see clear opportunities across target markets. We are therefore eager to work together with management to continue expanding this frontrunning position.”
About HOLMRIS B8:
HOLMRIS B8 is Denmark’s leading sales & design house developing, selling, and realizing innovative interior design solutions for public and private spaces. Its primary segments cover Office, Hospitality, and Education. The company offers one-stop solutions; ranging from advisory & design services, to a strong product portfolio covering more than 1,000 brand partners and strong own brand products, and installment & project management. HOLMRIS B8 thereby caters to a diversified customer base primarily in Denmark, but also has sales offices in Norway, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands. Innovation is at the heart of its DNA, not only demonstrated in its design solutions, but also in its extensive selection of services and sustainable solutions.
About Mentha:
Headquartered in Amsterdam and founded in 2006, Mentha is an independent private equity firm active at the lower end of the mid-market. We invest in established, mid-sized and profitable companies with clear opportunities for growth along multiple avenues, such as organic growth, expansion into new markets, or through buy-and-build. Our transactions typically involve founding entrepreneurs or family businesses that are looking for a partner to help navigate their next phase of growth. With our companies, we seek an active approach that is based on true entrepreneurship, growth acceleration and transformation, and is spurred by the human factor and sustainability.
If there are questions to this, please reach out to HOLMRIS B8 CEO, Flemming Ib Windfeld on flwi@holmrisb8.com or +4520400616.
Read article in the Danish newspaper Børsen [In Danish].
