From dying SME to re-born global to multinational: Vendlet

Born Global companies are unique because they can rapidly internationalise from their inception. However, most companies experience both temporality and speediness in growth affected by endogenous and exogenous factors and ups and downs in business cycles. In this case, we look at different periods of growth for a Danish wholesaler and manufacturing company. The company experienced different periods of gazelle growth, generational change, threatened bankruptcy, acquisitions and rapid global internationalisation. The Vendlet case is exciting and relevant to discuss because it questions our often-implicit understanding of the linearity of growth and perceived drivers of internationalisation. The company has been viable for more than 35 years, but the company was about to go bankrupt in 2010, and through acquisition, the new team and owner became re-born as a global gazelle. The new owner’s vision, actions and business development are fundamental for transitioning from a dying SME to a re-born global gazelle. He made challenging and irreversible decisions resulting in ongoing business model innovation. The latest action was to sell the company to a Welsh conglomerate and thus transition to being part of a multinational.