We are planning the development of personnel skills, production capabilities, and new products by merging the engineering team from Kraljevo with the teams of “Beam Global” from San Diego and Chicago, say both the new and old owner
The American company Beam Global is a clean technology innovator based in the USA. They are a leading provider of innovative sustainable products and technologies for electric vehicle (EV) charging, energy storage, and energy security. This company is the new owner of “Amiga” from Kraljevo, which will operate under the name “Beam Europe” in the future,” Desmond Wheatley, CEO of Beam Global (a company with headquarters in San Diego and factories in Chicago, and now in Kraljevo), and Ivan Tlačinac, CEO of Beam Europe, say for Portal Krug.
This conversation took place on the day when, in a livestreaming, 75 businessmen from America had the opportunity to watch for an hour and 15 minutes the story of what “Amiga” used to be and what kind of company it is three weeks after the acquisition:
Ivan Tlačinac: They had the opportunity to meet our engineering team and see what our company has, starting from the park with the new administration building, through complete production to the stock of materials and finished products. Merging with the company Beam Global gives us the opportunity to offer our existing and new customers the latest infrastructural solutions for charging electric vehicles based on renewable energy sources, while also opening completely new opportunities for us. We have the engineering and operational capabilities to manufacture Beam Global solutions, as well as a long list of prospective markets where they can be sold. We believe that we have the capacity and capabilities, and I believe that very soon we will be able to produce here everything that Beam Global in America produces. Also, we are working together to develop new products- those that they have as patents around the world but have not yet produced. These days, our teams in San Diego, Chicago, and Kraljevo were in almost daily contact on this subject recently. This means that the capacities of all three companies in terms of technical equipment, personnel, and markets justify the plans that, in five years, all of them will have five to ten times more turnover than now. Of course, this will also mean investments in new technologies, production equipment and, most importantly, staff.
Desmond Wheatley: I’m very happy to be here! We just finished this “live tour” of ours, and people from America are already contacting me. Some of them are from Wall Street banks and investment funds. They each have 1,000 people behind them who own money through them. The job of those bankers is to hear what we have to tell them and show them, and then make investment decisions. We already have a very positive reaction from Wall Street, which is really important because Beam Global is a publicly-traded company on the NASDAQ (the largest electronic stock exchange based in New York, author’s note). That’s my first responsibility: that shareholders make money as the business grows. We had a high-quality audience that received the information very well, and nowadays it is hard to get people to spend a minute and 15 seconds watching something, rather than a full hour and 15 minutes. The very fact that they stayed this long is, in fact, incredible. In the past, on similar occasions, it happened that people usually joined for a while and then left or were replaced. So this is very good! I would confirm Ivan’s expectation that the business will also grow very quickly because we have a really good and unique product for the electric vehicle industry, which is developing very quickly.
As explained by our interlocutors, Europe is a much bigger market than North America. According to official statistics, there are 219,000,000 cars in North America, 320,000,000 cars in China, and 405,000,000 cars in Europe.
Desmond Wheatley: The European market is much bigger than North America and even China when you look at all of Europe. It’s incredible that we can come to this market and start making products three weeks after signing the contract. I’ve never seen anything like it, so it’s a great opportunity. Yet opportunity alone is nothing without ability. When you have both, then that is a very good thing, and what we have here now is a tremendous opportunity and capability! We will bring to this market the intellectual property that we have developed over the last 12-13 years in the US, and manufacture products here, and jointly develop products for the future of the business.
At the meeting with the whole team and all the employees, I said, “There will be changes, but not bad ones!” They will continue to do what they have been doing, and we will continue to invest and do what Ivan is already doing, which is to make this place better. So we will add new opportunities for growth and new opportunities for new products. This means more security for existing employees, more opportunities to grow, learn and advance. It will create more opportunities for new jobs, more training and more careers. I always emphasize that this should not be just a job, but rather a career. The difference is obvious because you come and go to work. You stay for a career because you have opportunities in life and that is what we want to develop.
For more than three decades, Amiga has built credibility and strong relationships with clients from the public and commercial sectors in 16 markets around the world. More than 33 years have passed since “Amiga” produced the first cast candelabra that improves the appearance of the space in front of the Žiča Monastery and Urban Quay. The company was founded by Miroslav Tlačinac, who was not afraid of challenges, and since 1990, the production program has been expanded and the volume of production has been increased. From the public lighting program, a program of steel-grid structures was born. Another business direction was the formation of a construction operation within which a large number of power lines and chairlifts were built in ski resorts. By joining the company Beam Global, “Amiga” got the opportunity to offer its existing customers. but also to new customers. the latest infrastructural solutions for charging electric vehicles based on renewable energy sources, while also opening completely new opportunities for itself.
Ivan Tlačinac: Our goal is to become leaders on the European market. Solar energy is the energy of the future, and “Beam Global” has patents in this field. There is no doubt; we are absolutely sure that what we have done is a good move, but one thing is what we think and what we do as old and new owners and our teams, and quite another is how people receive that information. It was very challenging for us to predict how the workers would receive the sales information.
Of course, we had a lot of questions: 1000 whys and 1000 becauses. Now, I am convinced that we are on the right path- to educate step by step and answer every question. “Amiga” is still there; its management has become part of the new company; we are not outside it, which means we believe in this story. And if we believe, you should too! Let’s get together to increase business in every segment. I think that now people understand in a good way that this story will be positive for both the company and its employees, but everything depends on our work, on how we will continue to work. And the opportunity is undoubtedly very big!
Miroslav (Tlačinac, founder of “Amiga”, author’s note) said during the meeting with the workers: “We offer you the European Champions League in football and you can play – if you know how.” But, you have a chance to play the best football game or the best business game! From our point of view, it is really perfect and I am sure that our current employees and those who will become members of our team in the future will be able to overcome any possible obstacles without any problems, because we know that the Serbian people – when they want – can do anything they set out to do. The reactions of the workers may be another proof that the expectations of how all this will be good for the employees, the company, and the local community are quite realistic.
Desmond Wheatly: I have done many transactions like this and had the opportunity to see both negative and positive reactions from employees, and what I saw today was extremely positive: in the meeting, while walking around, greeting people, shaking hands with them. No one behaves badly but friendly, but not too much. Just right! You could feel the sincerity. There are always some people who will be scared, have concerns, have doubts, but I think Ivan has done a great job of building a very good team that creates trust. They believe in him and the decisions he makes. This is just another decision, but it is good for everyone and I think they know that. They successfully operate with the same profile of clients and customers that enabled us in the US to grow extremely quickly, and the merger of our two companies will open up immediate access to 16 international markets.
We asked the new owner what he thought about the economic environment in Serbia, but it turned out that he did not have much opportunity to see the situation in the Serbian economy.
Desmond Wheatly: Rachel Duran, Commercial Attaché for the US Department of Commerce, gave a very good speech at our Amiga contract signing in the beginning of October at the College of Civil Engineering. She said, among other things, that “there are a lot of companies in Serbia that are uncut diamonds” and that the American embassy has made a list of Serbian companies that can be potential partners of American companies. “Amiga” was on that list, but Beam Global didn’t know about it.
We met in another way, and we are very happy that we met without any politics or embassy. We only got together through business and work operations, nothing more. And this, in my opinion, is the most important. I met with the US Embassy many times while we were negotiating because I had to make sure that this was a good business environment to enter into the investment. They told me that it is safe and that the environment is suitable for business, for both American and European investments.
From the point of view of the US government, Serbia is a good place for US companies to expand into Europe. The US government and Embassy see this whole region as a good investment environment, and they spend a lot of time researching different countries and do not want to fail. Rachel Duran also stated that we can expect full support from the US Government as we grow here. Those words carry a lot of weight, because they are very careful and do not say what they do not mean. In my own experience, the 11-month process (from when we first met with Amiga) went relatively quickly, and perhaps it’s telling that it was easier than I thought it would be, because on the seller’s side everything was reasonable and according to agreements. Basically – it wasn’t difficult to make this transaction. Of course, there is tedious paperwork, public notaries, but it was not difficult. I have had much more difficult transactions and I expected this to be much more difficult, so I was pleasantly surprised.
The new owner of “Amiga” underlines the special quality of Serbian companies that are struggling to reduce costs and increase profits, because “whoever does business like that cannot be bad”.
As he points out, he hired an international consulting company that did due-diligence of “Amiga”
Desmond Wheatley: For due diligence of the company, they looked at everything: finances, operational procedures, security… They told me (you can cover your ears Ivan) that “Amiga” is one of the best companies they’ve ever seen! Best managed, best organized! They had seen and studied a lot of companies and had a very high opinion of the Amiga.“
Ivan Tlačinac points out that he is very grateful to all the employees who did not leave “Amiga” even when it was the most difficult and is quite convinced that “the best is yet to come”, because, as Beam Global said in its announcement, “the joining of forces of the two companies will bring new customers, expand production lines and increase the technical capabilities of both companies. Amiga’s established market, manufacturing and engineering expertise will continue to thrive and grow, while combining the teams, talents and capabilities of both companies will create a powerhouse of clean technology innovation and growth.”
Ivan Tlačinac: I also want to say something about the plans for the local community. We have an idea to grow the existing business and to start and grow the business of Beam Group. First, we will start with the production of the existing product, and then we will develop, ie. what we are doing now and what we want to do in the near future is to develop a new product and start production here, not only for Serbia, but for Europe, and we hope for the USA, and beyond. We will invest in the company in terms of technology, facilities, necessary equipment, all for production… and we hope that it will affect the local community. It will probably be through a larger number of employees, whose earnings will generate more taxes and therefore more money in the budget, but we have to sit down and talk about it in a good way. We want our people to know – that “Beam Europe” wants to be better in all areas, but step by step, not quickly. We will make a plan for three to five years and we will be successful. At the end of the story, it will be good for the company, for the employees, for the local community, and why not – for Serbia as well?
At the very end, the new owner wanted to add to this that this business will be good not only for the employees, Kraljevo and for Serbia, but because the products they make to reduce pollution, but also for the whole planet.
At the end of this story, it seems to be quite clear that one’s success should not be measured so much by the position he reached, but by the obstacles he had to overcome along the way. What we want is most often achievable – on the opposite side of fear.
M. M. D.
text in Serbian language: Budućnost nekadašnje „Amige“, sada „Beam Europe“: Cilj je da budemo lider na evropskom tržištu
