Paul literally steps into Anticimex's boardroom in Stockholm and sits down face-to-face with CEO Jarl Dahlfors, for this intimate and hard-hitting interview. Although Paul prides himself in being the preeminent, global expert on pest control valuation and M&A, our team here at The Boardroom Buzz is wondering if he missed his calling as a 20/20 journalist.

As CEO of Loomis, Jarl turned a low-performing business into the darling of the cash management and armored car services industry by decentralizing its business model and changing its culture. As head of a direct competitor of Brinks, it was Jarl who dethroned at least two Brinks’s CEOs – according to equity research analyst Jamie Clement – earning Jarl the 'Swedish Beast' moniker. 

In the middle of an extremely successful career in the security industry, EQT, owner of Anticimex tapped Jarl to do what he does best, shake up and decentralize a sleepy Nordic business that had been around for almost a century.

Decentralizing Loomis paid dividends for him, but how would that play out in another similar route-based business? Jarl battled his critics, but he could see that there was so much more potential for quality, profit, and growth. As the “protector of the branch manager”, Jarl decentralized Anticimex, established benchmarking protocol and has lead his highly-motivated team in building one of the largest pest control companies in the world. 

Following the interview, Paul and Patrick are joined by guest co-host David Billingsly, President at American Pest, for additional commentary on what it’s like to be a “country” president at Anticimex.