FEATURES: INTERVIEW
The destination
The DPA Microphones headquarters in Alleroed
With a new majority shareholder,
new investment and new plans
for the future, is DPA changing
its destination? CEO
Christian Poulsen explains all
Christian Poulsen, CEO of DPA Microphones
110 PRO AUDIO ASIA July–August 2014
IN THE FIRST DAYS OF JANUARY
2014, the news was announced
that Danish manufacturer DPA
Microphones had a new owner in
private equity rm, The Riverside
Company. To most, it might have
seemed like the kind of transaction
that takes place regularly – private
equity is no stranger to companies
within the modern audio business.
But to those who had been watching
DPA more carefully over recent years,
it was something of a surprise.
The reason why is Christian
Poulsen, the company’s CEO, and
the kind of businessman who
appreciates the value of knowing
exactly where he is headed. Of cially
appointed in 2010 after previously
serving on the manufacturer’s board
for four years, he has never been
shy in explaining the destination he
has in mind. Indeed, in September
2011, at the IBC convention, he
spelled it out to a room of full of
industry journalists, declaring that
DPA was set to become one of the
top three microphone manufacturers
in the world, and that he would
settle for nothing less. If at the time
the statement sounded a little like
grandstanding, Mr Poulsen has since
demonstrated that he was absolutely
serious.
In the years since, the company’s
catalogue has been streamlined,
each product has been renamed to
greatly improve branding, strategic
product launches have seen DPA
enter new markets and improve
‘I think I can
talk with
anyone in the
world about
microphones
now’
its standing in others. Meanwhile,
behind closed doors, the company
has been reshaped according to Mr
Poulsen’s ideas. In short, from his
rst moment in the CEO’s chair, he
had a roadmap to follow, and he has
stuck to it ever since. Until now.
But then, Mr Poulsen is nothing
if not pragmatic, particularly when
opportunity bites. ‘The background
to this deal was that I, together
with (CFO) Christian Hoff, bought
the four founders of DPA out over
a couple of years, and actually we
were halfway through our plans for
DPA – we feel that there is a lot of
potential in developing the company,’
he explains.
He is speaking to Pro Audio Asia
whilst at the wheel of his car enroute to DPA’s headquarters in the
Copenhagen suburb of Alleroed.
At the risk of sounding glib, the
CEO drives in much same way
as he conducts business. He is
focused and precise, maintaining a
steady, con dent pace. Only when
he realises, mid-way through the
journey, that the distraction of an
interview has led him astray from his
expected route, does he pause for a
moment to recalculate, realise that
he is closer to his nal destination
than he rst realised, and set off
again with gusto.
He tells the story of the Riverside
deal with the same certainty. ‘I
think the industry is going our way,
because we are experts in good
microphones for dif cult sound
environments, and that’s where
we feel the market is heading,’ he
continues. ‘So we had a strong
strategy going forward. But then we
were approached by a company and
we started a process where we got
to talk with three venture capital
rms. We ended up nding out that
Riverside is a great match for us.
They specialise in medium-sized
companies that they then take to the
next stage. We think that there are
lots of opportunities in our market
that require bigger investments –
there are possibilities such as buying