The Dane says he had no intention of re-entering the lighting industry once his 10-year non-compete contract had expired; however, after meeting Arturo Vicari, managing director of the RCF Group (of which SGM is a part), the deal was struck. "I could see they would be great guys to work with - but I only agreed to join SGM on the understanding that I could get my old team back," said Johansen. "I asked them whether they were ready to do it again - and they were immediately hooked on the idea, which was very exciting."
A further stimulus to the new SGM R&D team was the belief that there was huge potential for development. "You are still seeing copies of products dating back to 1993-94. If this had not been the case I would have had no intention of coming back."
Summing up, Peter Johansen says: "It's really exciting to be able to give my old team the opportunity to work on developing exclusive products. They are extremely enthusiastic and I can see the progress we are making from day to day."
Several R&D engineers were members of what he calls his 'dream team' back in the mid-90s, and among products already on the drawing board are what is billed as a "revolutionary" moving head with new features built in.
SGM's Giorgio Radice, who brokered the deal, paid tribute to the Dane's accomplishments and sees his return as a spiritual homecoming. "He was one of the giants of the industry when I was just a young guy starting out. I considered him a genius with his crazy ideas about lighting - he was one of the people who changed the lighting industry and increased the size of the market. This is a really exciting time as we are not in a start-up situation - and we are already seeing the results."
SGM and RCF Group managing director, Arturo Vicari, stated: "When RCF Group went public in 2007 the goal was to grow and to reach a significant position within our business. "Our main business has always been audio - but last year we decided to look for some other synergies and decided to acquire SGM . . . While SGM was a consolidated brand in the lighting market it needed a significant restructuring. This we did, and although SGM can now successfully compete in the market,
the growth of SGM, as it was, still did not have the momentum that we wanted. We started to look for someone that could drive the company out of that situation and when I had the opportunity to talk to Peter Johansen, I knew that he was the person we were looking for."
Vicari continues: "To meet someone like Peter at just the right time was pure luck, and we are delighted to welcome such an iconic figure to head up our new R&D team. He and his engineers in Denmark are already well into an exciting development programme and we look forward to showing the first results of this at Pro Light + Sound in Frankfurt next Spring. It's great to have him on board with us."
(Lee Baldock)
