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Phase One
- Thread starter Daure
- Start date
Stefan Steib
Active member
Well, that is not a good sign. I fear they had to take additional money to get this CMOS up and working. Not good for them as they always have been proud to be financed by the staff....
I wish them well and hope this strengthens them instead of getting them into a Hasselblad kind of marketing orientation.
Greetings from Germany
Stefan
I wish them well and hope this strengthens them instead of getting them into a Hasselblad kind of marketing orientation.
Greetings from Germany
Stefan
This link in danish provides more details:
Danske Phase One solgt til engelsk kapitalfond - Electronic Supply DK
The original owners keep 40 percent of the shares, the remaining 60 was bought for 500-600 million danish crowns, which put a value on the company of about 180 million USD.
Danske Phase One solgt til engelsk kapitalfond - Electronic Supply DK
The original owners keep 40 percent of the shares, the remaining 60 was bought for 500-600 million danish crowns, which put a value on the company of about 180 million USD.
Digitalcameraman
Active member
I am not sure this recent move to expand their growth into CMOS and other areas should be viewed as a bad thing. Sure, Phase One has been the leader in the medium format market since they introduced the "Powerphase" and "Lightphase". I have seen them grow and manufacture products that produce image quality that every digital camera is now compared to.
I really think this new move will allow them to expand and refine their current camera body technology as well as reinvest in this new CMOS movement. This shows how big of an opportunity this market really is, despite the critics who think it is shrinking.
I have been on the dealer side of this business since it was first developed and one that helped "pioneer" the movement to the end user, so I welcome their interest in wanting to take advantage of this expansion to grow at a faster rate than they may have been able to do without taking on an equity partner.
Good luck Phase One, and thanks for the ride so far.
Chris Snipes
Business Development Manager
Calumet Photo
1001 N Federal Hwy
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304
[email protected]
813-335-2473 Cell
Stefan Steib
Active member
Chris
after posting the very first sentences that came to my mind I posted this to LL:
Hmm
Two opposing ideas:
first: Well, that is not a good sign. I fear they had to take additional money to get this CMOS up and working.
Not good for them as they always have been proud to be financed by the staff....VC´s are of course no nice people. they want to earn.
You are the ones whose blood they want to suck and that mostly fast.
second : of course they are right, either grow or close it. For a CMOS business they have to get up volume.
To even launch a new body to support this, it will need a significant investment. That could be raised by this if the capital was raised.
If earnings are big enough everybody will be happy.
.....
(it was not explicitely said they raised capital - only they bought the shares). as long as we don´t know what this really means in terms of capitalization
the information could be bad, good or neutral. All else is pure speculation.
I wish them well, I hope it works and will keep this industry alive and kicking. we really need a healthy Phase One, as this is right now one of the columns
several other smaller operations in this industry rely on (myself included).
Greetings from Germany
Stefan
after posting the very first sentences that came to my mind I posted this to LL:
Hmm
Two opposing ideas:
first: Well, that is not a good sign. I fear they had to take additional money to get this CMOS up and working.
Not good for them as they always have been proud to be financed by the staff....VC´s are of course no nice people. they want to earn.
You are the ones whose blood they want to suck and that mostly fast.
second : of course they are right, either grow or close it. For a CMOS business they have to get up volume.
To even launch a new body to support this, it will need a significant investment. That could be raised by this if the capital was raised.
If earnings are big enough everybody will be happy.
.....
(it was not explicitely said they raised capital - only they bought the shares). as long as we don´t know what this really means in terms of capitalization
the information could be bad, good or neutral. All else is pure speculation.
I wish them well, I hope it works and will keep this industry alive and kicking. we really need a healthy Phase One, as this is right now one of the columns
several other smaller operations in this industry rely on (myself included).
Greetings from Germany
Stefan
Regarding the new body, isn't this something that has been in the works for years? If hints dropped by Phase One are anything to go by, we should expect it to be announced by Photokina at the latest. Presumably then, the majority of any necessary R&D spend has already happened.
The 250 as well - that is something that has been in the pipeline for many years, and has now been released. R&D spent, profits maintained, time to reap the rewards.
From published figures, and statements by dealers in the know, Phase One's profits have been growing since the financial crash.
I'm not convinced that this transaction has been done to finance products already on the market, or very close (in MF timelines) to being launched - unless they need a new factory to actually make the camera of course.
Kind regards,
Gerald.
Stefan Steib
Active member
Hi Gerald
Devellopment is one thing. To ramp up a production line for doing a new product another one. Of course I can be wrong , but after some attempts on running a VC based company back in 2000-2003 I have some experiences with VC´s, due diligence, business plans and projected earnings.
Of course - I don´t have any first hand infos, but as I read this it is very likely as I wrote it.
The central question is: did they get new cash to spend from this deal.
Anything else is not much important right now.
Regards
Stefan
Devellopment is one thing. To ramp up a production line for doing a new product another one. Of course I can be wrong , but after some attempts on running a VC based company back in 2000-2003 I have some experiences with VC´s, due diligence, business plans and projected earnings.
Of course - I don´t have any first hand infos, but as I read this it is very likely as I wrote it.
The central question is: did they get new cash to spend from this deal.
Anything else is not much important right now.
Regards
Stefan
Well, Silverfleet did specifically mention that one of the reasons for the investment was to help with the aquisition of complementary businesses or technology.
So yes, it would appear that there is plenty of cash on hand.
It's impressive how small this companies actually are.
That's a testimony of dedication by Phase One employes, all that they have o achieved.
I continue to believe that someone should just buy both Phase and Hasselblad and introduce price competitive offerings (of course leaving Hasselblad as brand for the cameras, and the administration to the Phase One team).
I am aware that premium quality products are never price performance leaders, so I am thinking in the lines of 2 times the sensor size at say 4 times the price.
Hope all goes fine for Phase One. Maybe is related to the new camera, as some suggested, to pay production.
Best regards,
J. Duncan
dougpeterson
Workshop Member
The arrangement is not because P1 needed any help launching or ramping the IQ250.
Production on the IQ250 is already ramping. Demo units began shipping the business day after the announcements. End user shipments began last week.
Take a look at what this firm says is their speciality. Then we can revisit this thread in a year or so and things should be more clear.
Production on the IQ250 is already ramping. Demo units began shipping the business day after the announcements. End user shipments began last week.
Take a look at what this firm says is their speciality. Then we can revisit this thread in a year or so and things should be more clear.
kapil Syal
New member
Silverfleet Capital | View all
and
Silverfleet Capital | Creating value
it has been my experience .. (pathetically limited tho' it may be)
parents (entrepreneurs) sell MAJORITY stakes in their babies when
1. they feel that a baby sitter is more capable parent than themselves ( as in, that the present value of their annual income is exceeded by an LBO)
2. they have an irresistible urge to relocate to the Bahamas .. and let said baby-sitter adopt the pooch
3. some combination of the above ..
dougpeterson
Workshop Member
#1 is more typical of 20-something startup founders that find themselves in a multi-million company a few years after being in a garage with their friends dicking around.
Re #2: Danes burn easily.
This will be my last post on this thread. See you all here in around a year and we can see how things have developed
.Most of the information comes from articles in the Danish financial paper Borsen.dk which is a subscription site.
However, it started with an article in May 2013 but you can find information about the content of the first news here:
Væksten stagnerer hos Phase One - Electronic Supply DK
Edited google translate:
The growth stagnates at Phase One
30 May 2013 - By Katrine Jensen Øgaard
The Danish manufacturer of high quality cameras have had to settle for a somewhat modest growth in 2012, which stands in stark contrast to previous years.
In 2012 obtained Phase One revenue of 366 million DKK which is only 4 percent more than the year before. The paper notes.
The 4 percent is a sharp drop in the company's growth compared to 2010 and 2011 when growth was around 30 per cent.
- It is clear that I will not be satisfied if we are to live with a growth of about 3-5 per cent. many years in a row. We have a goal to achieve sales of 500 million in 2015 and then we have something greater growth rates, says Henrik Ole Håkansson, CEO of Phase One, according to Borsen.dk
He expects that the company will soon be back on a growth of around 10-15 per cent. Since last year made significant investments in technological development.
However, it started with an article in May 2013 but you can find information about the content of the first news here:
Væksten stagnerer hos Phase One - Electronic Supply DK
Edited google translate:
The growth stagnates at Phase One
30 May 2013 - By Katrine Jensen Øgaard
The Danish manufacturer of high quality cameras have had to settle for a somewhat modest growth in 2012, which stands in stark contrast to previous years.
In 2012 obtained Phase One revenue of 366 million DKK which is only 4 percent more than the year before. The paper notes.
The 4 percent is a sharp drop in the company's growth compared to 2010 and 2011 when growth was around 30 per cent.
- It is clear that I will not be satisfied if we are to live with a growth of about 3-5 per cent. many years in a row. We have a goal to achieve sales of 500 million in 2015 and then we have something greater growth rates, says Henrik Ole Håkansson, CEO of Phase One, according to Borsen.dk
He expects that the company will soon be back on a growth of around 10-15 per cent. Since last year made significant investments in technological development.
kapil Syal
New member
Doughpeterson - thanks for your responses, tho' you omitted replying to #3#1 is more typical of 20-something startup founders that find themselves in a multi-million company a few years after being in a garage with their friends dicking around.
Re #2: Danes burn easily.
This will be my last post on this thread. See you all here in around a year and we can see how things have developed
and your confidence in "one year later" gives me a minimum expected time for a far-eastern mfd back ..
Those numbers don't tally with the published accounts, which give the following as revenue (all in DKK '000,000):
2008 - 172
2009 - 183 (+6%)
2010 - 211 (+21%)
2011 - 277 (+25%)
2012 - 295 (+6%)
To hit his targeted revenue figure of 500M in 2015 would have required 20% year on year improvements for 2013, 14 and 15.
What I think is worth noting is that if Silverfleet are able to improve performance at Phase One as they have done at their better acquisitions, then the minority stake retained by employees will almost certainly deliver a better return when Silverfleet cash-out, than had Phase One continued as a 100% privately held company.
It's win-win all round basically if this goes well.
Stefan Steib
Active member
Hi Gerald
as Doug said, we will all be much more enlightened in a year from now, but I would nevertheless give a guess:
_If_ the management team is still not looking for an exit (which I suspect knowing the mindset of Phase a bit) they are further develloping this brand and idea. So
Large part of this money will go into the development and future manufacturing of an exclusive, even larger chip- my guess around 100-132 (4x33 !) Mpix CMOS which will also be an 8k video device with subsampling.
This is the growth market they can invest in, and there will be a lot of music in the future.With this there are several open opportunities, to stay a photo company, to become a licensing chip reseller for the video industry and or do even highend 8k video by themselves.
Watch their employment ads for the next months and we will know.
Regards
Stefan
as Doug said, we will all be much more enlightened in a year from now, but I would nevertheless give a guess:
_If_ the management team is still not looking for an exit (which I suspect knowing the mindset of Phase a bit) they are further develloping this brand and idea. So
Large part of this money will go into the development and future manufacturing of an exclusive, even larger chip- my guess around 100-132 (4x33 !) Mpix CMOS which will also be an 8k video device with subsampling.
This is the growth market they can invest in, and there will be a lot of music in the future.With this there are several open opportunities, to stay a photo company, to become a licensing chip reseller for the video industry and or do even highend 8k video by themselves.
Watch their employment ads for the next months and we will know.
Regards
Stefan
