About Us
About Alcadon Group
Alcadon Group is a Swedish listed corporate group founded in 1988 that acquires, owns and develops leading companies and brands within systems, solutions and products for network infrastructure and data communication, with the vision of becoming a leading European competence partner in the digitalisation of society.
The group has approximately 180 employees and generates revenue of approximately SEK 1,400 million through its independent subsidiaries in seven European countries.
History
From a Stockholm niche distributor to a European group
Today’s Alcadon Group was founded on the island of Lilla Essingen in Stockholm, Sweden in 1988 as a niche distributor of products for communication and network infrastructure. The name origins from what the company originally sold: “All kabel och don” (“all cables and connectors” in English), which became “Alcadon”.
During the early 1990’s, Alcadon established significant product development capabilities and further developed the strategy of being a competence centre within network infrastructure. Alcadon took a leading part in the Swedish and Norwegian 3G-, and later 4G, roll-outs, deepening its competence in communication and network infrastructure.
Owned by American MRV Communications during 1997-2012, Alcadon ventured into the field of active equipment, complementing an already strong portfolio of passive systems; a strategy later on discontinued and focus returned to cables, connectors and other passive equipment.
As part of distribution specialist DistIt during 2012- 2016, Alcadon could further enhance capabilities in related fields and ventured into FTTH and the emerging data centre segment.
In 2016 the company was spun-off and listed as “Alcadon Group” and quickly initiated acquisitions of similar players in the niche. DataConnect and Svagströmsmateriel in Sweden were acquired as was CableCom in Norway, enabling a strong position in the rapid Nordic FTTH roll-out that peaked during 2015-2020.
The successes in FTTH roll-outs triggered the acquisition of Six X International in Denmark and Germany in 2021 and the acquisition of 6X International in Belgium in 2022, with the intention to repeat the strong sales performance from Sweden and Norway as the FTTH roll-out in Europe was expected to keep similar pace.
As the FTTH market in Europe did not develop fully as expected, a slight strategic re-positioning towards a search for a more balanced market exposure led to the transformative step of Alcadon Group acquiring the very well-established Networks Centre Group in the UK and the Netherlands in 2022, followed by the acquisition of the already 100 years old Wood Communications in Ireland in 2024.
This re-positioning also enhanced the philosophy of the Alcadon Group acting more and more as an ‘eternal-horizon’-owner of well-ran, entrepreneurial led niche businesses rather than a full integrator, and subsequently, the latest acquisitions have kept their original names, management and go-to-market-strategies, rather than being re-branded to Alcadon.
During this time, the principles of decentralization and delegated decision-making were also reinforced, backed-up by clearer target-based governance as the difference between the Alcadon Group and its independent subsidiaries was further clarified.
Vision & mission
VISION
Alcadon Group’s Vision is to become a leading competence partner in Europe related to the digitalization of society.
MISSION
The vision shall be met through the shared Mission-statement that unifies all the independent companies in the Alcadon Group:
Enabling digitalization for a better world
Business concept & guiding principles
Alcadon Group acquires, owns and develops leading companies and brands that support digitalization of society.
Our subsidiaries are independent (sister) companies with their own targets, strategy and action plans. Our companies shall in turn be trusted and reliable partners for customers that either design, build, install or maintain network and data transfer solutions for both current and future needs.
We see sustainability as a prerequisite for all long-term competitiveness. Thus, at an Alcadon Group company, profitability, value creation and social benefit shall go hand in hand with a caring approach to our planet and its resources.
We use acquisitions as tool for growth – both add-ons to existing companies and new market or business niche entries under the umbrella of Digitalization of society. When doing so, we follow the approach of a niched serial acquirer – rather making two smaller deals than one larger, always ensuring the right valuation and always with as low risk and as highly committed management as possible.
Our three core values
The Alcadon Group expects all its employees and colleagues to always adhere to and do business following three Core Values. We shall always transpire:
Financial targets
Alcadon Group's long-term financial targets are:
Profitability
The Alcadon Group shall reach and maintain a profitability level of 50% “Profit over Working Capital” (P/WC)
Profit growth
We shall generate an average profit growth of at least 10% per year over time
Profit margin
We shall improve the Group’s profit margin, striving towards 10%
Net debt ratio
We shall operate with a debt ratio below 3
Our targets shall be reached through both organic improvements and acquisitions of sustainable and profitable companies, always with shareholder value creation in focus.
Supporting targets
Profitability (P/WC) — Rolling 12 month adjusted EBITA (P) as a percentage of average 12 month working capital (WC), defined as inventory plus trade receivables minus trade payables.
Profit growth — Measured as average annual EBITA adjusted growth, where growth can be generated through both organic growth and acquisitions.
Profit margin — Measured as EBITA adjusted margin.
Net debt ratio — Net interest-bearing debt divided by adjusted EBITDA R12 proforma.
Customer loyalty — Measured using the Net Promoter Score (NPS), which provides a measure of how willing customers are to recommend the supplier. NPS is measured by customers rating the Alcadon Group company they deal with on a scale of 1–10, with the number of promoters then compared to the number of detractors. Ambassadors are defined as those who have scored between 9 and 10, whilst detractors are defined as those who have scored between 1 and 6.
Employee engagement — Measured using the Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS), which provides an indication of how willing employees are to recommend their workplace to others. Alcadon Group employees respond on a scale of 1–10, and the number of promoters is then compared with the number of detractors. Ambassadors are defined as anyone who has scored between 9 and 10, whilst detractors are defined as anyone who has scored between 1 and 6.