July 19, 2023 – Viceroy Research is short Hexagon AB (STO: HEXA-B). Hexagon is a corporate dictatorship run by the majority owner and controlling voter: Melker Schörling.
Melker-appointed Chairman & former Hexagon CEO, Ola Rollén, front-runs Hexagon investments through an investment vehicle that counts Schörling and Hexagon’s top-brass as investors.
Viceroy believes management has committed fraud.
Management have adopted an aggressive acquisition strategy which has remained largely unchanged for 25 years. Acquisition growth appears to be intentionally misreported as organic growth, which would otherwise rival LVMH. Acquisitions themselves appear to be underperforming en masse.
Aggressive accounting measures and corporate structure decisions put the lipstick on the pig. Dreadful and often non-existent disclosures appear to be a deliberate attempt to keep nosey critics at bay. Not us.
Strap-in. This is a big one.
***Notes
– Updated annexure for page 62. Please note the correction on page 62 reflecting an updated figures of Immersal Oy. These changes were already reflected in the remaining body of the report. This correction does not impact the remainder of the report.
– A keen eyed reader has spotted missing disposals from our acquisitions. We have now backed in the corresponding revenues for the highlighted disposal, substantially all of which occurred ion the 00’s. This correction has no significant impact on our findings or conclusions.