SDI Group (SDI.LN) is a small serial acquirer of niche manufacturing businesses similar to Judges Scientific and Halma.
Mike is the CEO of SDI Group and has been at the company for over 12 years. He joined as the CFO during a turnaround process in the early days of SDI. He has been the CEO for over a decade and spends his time predominantly visiting subsidiaries and buying new companies.
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I’m not bothered. I’m not overly concerned about what salary I earn. It might be a bit farcical to say it, but my job is to create value added for the shareholders. I don’t think a lot of CEOs think like that; they think it’s their business. If I can’t use the cash generated wisely, I have to give it back to the shareholders, in the way of dividends or something else. It’s not my business. I own a small percentage of it but, at the end of the day, I report to them; that’s my job in life.
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Working. At the end of the day, myself and all the management teams have created a wonderful business. That is why I am here today, because people are interested in what we have created. There were a couple of models we looked; one was Halma, in the early days, and then there was Judges, and I know David Cicurel reasonably well. We talk and have a cup of tea occasionally. It’s just fun; I like working. I’ve been involved in turnarounds as a finance director, for many years, and this is the first role I’ve had as a CEO and I’m enjoying it.
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Repeat business wise, it may be easier to go through some of the subs. If you look at Atik Cameras, that is capital expenditure; Synoptics is capital expenditure. If you look at Graticules, that is repeat business; what we are doing is chemical etching. We are etching onto a microscope slide or something like that. You are doing chemical etching onto a substrate, using sulfuric acid and cyanide. Then you go through sensors and controls and you have Astles Control Systems; they make dosing equipment. 50% of their revenue used to be service, so it’s quite high, and also selling sensors, within that. Sentek is sensors and that is repeat business.
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Mike is the CEO of SDI Group and has been at the company for over 12 years. He joined as the CFO during a turnaround process in the early days of SDI. He has been the CEO for over a decade and spends his time predominantly visiting subsidiaries and buying new companies.