DPA Microphones has announced its association with global private equity firm, The Riverside Company, bringing investment to ‘significantly expand its operation and grow the company at a much faster pace’.

‘DPA is already a very successful and profitable company, which has been experiencing a 15 per cent increase in sales, year on year, for the last five years,’ comments DPA CFO, Christian Hoff. ‘With Riverside involved, we anticipate even stronger sales growth in the next five years.’

Riverside has previously invested in German loudspeaker company Teufel, which was successfully divested in 2010, and more recently acquired Blue Microphones. Riverside Partner Thomas Blomqvist says that Riverside saw DPA Microphones as an attractive partner because of its innovative and well-designed product range and international reputation for delivering outstanding quality and durability: ‘This is a solid foundation for further growth, and Riverside’s global network and experience in the audio industry should help propel DPA to further success,’ he says.

Under the terms of the arrangement, DPA’s CEO Christian Poulsen and CFO Christian Hoff retain their current positions in management and on the Board of Directors, along with a 40 per cent shareholding. Riverside is now the majority shareholder and will also have representation on the DPA board.

‘For our day-to-day operation, it is business as usual,’ Poulsen says. ‘What has changed is our ability to capitalise on our current success and make this even more significant in the future. Riverside has an extensive network worldwide, many of which are specialists in the audio industry and have deep technical knowledge and experience that we can exploit. This investment will allow us to develop new technologies and new products at a much faster pace. It will also allow us to move into new markets and attract more good people to our brand, while still properly supporting our existing customer and partner base.’