I have previously focused on the trend of board professionalization and competent teams. Recently, I read a really good book on the subject, which I would like to tip you about. Lars Bo Hansen and Steen Ernland have written "The Active Board", which focuses on how the board can develop the business and create competitiveness. 

The book’s 250 pages are easily read, but it does certainly not make it worse. It is at eye level and catches the reader with concrete punchlines - a book that you do not easily leave on the bookshelf.

No longer only about management - leadership will make the difference 

The book points out new guidelines for the modus operandi of the board. Without slackening control, more focus must not surprisingly be forward-looking, which puts greater demand on the board leadership itself. It is no longer only a question of management with focus on plans, control and doing the right things. Now leadership it is evenly important to ensure execution and that right things are done right. The book provides concrete input for the board composition based on both individual professional skills and collaborative skills relating to the team in question. A steady stream of real life examples are turned into checklists for the board’s own reflections, and not least its self-evaluation.

Being a board professional is an exciting and dynamic occupation, as the aim of the assignment from time to time is to sell the company, and handover the board responsibility to the new owners. Out of ten companies in my board portfolio, I have over the last six months experienced two successful company sales to other industrial players, which testify valuable companies with continued growth potential.

CDRator sold to Enghouse Systems

Most recently, the mobile billing software company CDRator A/S was sold to Enghouse Systems Limited that is a publicly traded Canadian based software and services company. Enghouse serves a number of distinct vertical markets through its three divisions, Interactive, Networks and Transportation, each developing and selling enterprise oriented applications software. CDRator is now part of the Networks division.

On March 3 2015, Enghouse Systems Limited announced that it has acquired CDRator A/S for a purchase price of approximately $23.0 million (net of acquired cash). CDRator’s annual revenue for fiscal 2014 was just over $20.0 million. CDRator has approximately 130 staff primarily based in Denmark who support their customer base in Europe, North America and Africa.

Having served on the board of CDRator A/S for five years, I am proud of this successful and promising exit. I wish both Enghouse Systems and CDRator’s management and staff the best of luck for their joint future.

In Denmark, it is mandatory to establish a board of directors for all limited companies as well as limited liability companies, which for more than three years have had more than 35 employees. Out of Denmark’s approximately 80.000 limited liability companies only 1.000 need to comply, however the actual number having a board is around 12.000 – this indicates that many founders and owners of midsized and smaller companies have acknowledged the value of voluntarily establishing a professional board.

JO Informatik is an example from my own board portfolio – a small Danish software company that designs and develops digital archives and software for digital administration. Three years ago, the founder and CEO Jesper Olsen decided to establish a professional board of directors and since then the value creation has accelerated significantly. Revenue has grown 66% over the last two years, a negative result has turned positive and the company consistently executes on the strategy, which recently has paved the way for an entry into the Norwegian market.

I would like to share some selected highlights from an article on JO Informatik’s experiences:

Private equity funds have long been at the forefront when it comes to professionalization and composition of board teams based on business challenges and competence needs, rather than classical networking relationships. 

With a typical exit horizon at 4-7 years and clear ambitions to maximize value creation during the ownership period, it has been natural to introduce new management paradigms from top to bottom of the management systems.

Need for speed and skills

Examples of this are, when private equity funds already during the acquisition process have made extensive fact analysis, so they up front can set the right board and management team to execute the strategic and operational tasks as defined for the ownership period. Or they turn from comparing oneself with the nearest competitors to world class benchmarking, and long democratic decision making processes are replaced by short fact based decision making processes. Last but not least, their ability to handle large amounts of complexity under very tight deadlines.

With the right competencies on the board team, it is also natural and moreover fruitful, that boards engage more closely in management sparring and business development projects - of course with due regard to the principles and recommendations for good corporate governance.

Thursday November 15 Logstrup was honored with the Nordea Business Award 2012. CEO Per Løgstrup proudly accepted the award from Nordea Bank at a reception at The Museum Of Modern Art -Louisiana's koncert hall.

The nominees for the Nordea Business Award must be individuals or companies who in the past year has improved its employment rate or business development.