It seems to be this release from January 5th:
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Good point, that’s likely how it is 
It would have been a bit strange communication if an unannounced deal had been hinted at at the same time 
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Spare parts are selling well…
Car repair shops are now overwhelmed by a flood of customers – “Freezing temperatures are a good salesman” Autokorjaamot hukkuvat nyt asiakastulvan alle – ”Pakkanen on hyvä myyntimies” | Kauppalehti
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Here are Petri’s preview comments as Relais releases its Q4 results on Feb 13. 
We expect the company’s revenue and earnings to have continued strong growth, driven particularly by acquisitions. In connection with the results, we expect the company to announce an updated strategy and financial targets. Thus, the main focus on the earnings day will be on the company’s longer-term outlines, although we do not expect significant changes to the company’s strategy compared to the previous one.
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Relais will indeed release its Q4 results on Friday, and this will be the new CEO’s first appearance. Please post your questions if you have anything in mind for the CEO interview 
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Christian stated the following in the press release regarding the start of his term:
“I am excited to start as the CEO of Relais Group at a time when the company has strong momentum and a proven strategy. Relais has built a unique platform in the Nordic commercial vehicle aftermarket, combining disciplined capital allocation with a decentralized and entrepreneurial business model.”
In this regard, it would be interesting to hear what your impressions from the first few weeks have been regarding Relais’s culture and its decentralized, entrepreneurial operating model? Does it need to be changed in any direction, or is it a proven model that shouldn’t be tinkered with?
Is the culture and organization, so to speak, in such a state that it scales without significant changes to, for example, the head office headcount, even if the scale were to double or multiply through acquisitions? Typically, in a decentralized organization, the head office headcount shouldn’t really grow much, as each business unit operates relatively autonomously without the need to manage operations from the head office or to actively seek out synergies between the group’s companies.
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Does taking out a hybrid loan and distributing extra dividends at the same time fall under disciplined capital allocation?
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I believe last year’s dividend was planned to be paid in two installments, with a contingency for the second part.
But to frame this as a question: is the new CEO looking to change the dividend policy so that it wouldn’t be paid and the money could be used for something more useful instead? Wouldn’t it make more sense for Relais to buy back its own shares, which could then be cancelled if they want to distribute capital, or used for acquisitions?
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The CEO can certainly try all sorts of things, but there’s not much a single CEO can do about the fact that Salmivuori needs those dividends.
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I agree, and this is exactly what Arni said as well. Relais is a damn good company, and I will be adding more shares myself. The only negative thing is the main owner’s thirst for dividends, which in my opinion has even slowed down growth.
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In my opinion, yes. As long as the debt level remains at the desired level. Especially with serial acquirers. Acquisitions made with debt usually have to be considered more carefully.
Of course, one could argue back and forth about efficient markets and finance theory, but in reality, acquisitions carried out with debt focus on near-term cash flows.
For good reason, LBOs aren’t done on a startup whose theoretical cash flows are 5-15 years away; instead, they are done on targets where cash flow or the sale of business units is expected to pay off a large portion of the debt within a couple of years.
This is already a bit like splitting hairs, but Relais didn’t actually pay an extra dividend in the sense that I understand the term. The company split the dividend decided in the spring into two parts, but the total corresponds to the payout ratio of the dividend policy. So the original dividend proposal was €0.50 divided into two parts (€0.30 + €0.20). Of course, the autumn release also talked about an extra dividend, but in my opinion, it’s more of a second dividend installment.
This leads to the point that one could ask whether profit distribution should be this “generous” when there are demonstrably other good uses for capital. But my point is that the board decided to stick to the original dividend proposal, its profit distribution policy, and the series of increasing dividends, even though financing was raised with a hybrid. So it’s not that I don’t understand where this discussion is coming from, and the topic is quite relevant
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What financial theory principle would you use to solve the following brain teaser?
Matti wants to buy strawberries at the market.
He doesn’t have enough money, so he goes to Pekka.
Pekka says: “I can lend you 50, but you must pay 8% interest on it every year.”
Matti agrees. Matti receives 50. On the same day, Matti gives Virpi 9 and says: “Here is a gift for you.” Virpi is happy.
Was Matti’s capital allocation “disciplined” and sensible? How expensive did Virpi’s gift turn out to be for Matti?
Matti has to think twice about whether the strawberries he buys with an 8% interest rate are worth it. He has to immediately consider whether he can sell them directly at a high enough price. If Matti buys them with his own money, he can easily, for example, eat most of them and use a small portion to grow his own strawberry patch. Matti thinks that perhaps with these he can get self-produced strawberries at some point in the future, but it doesn’t really matter that much.
If Matti has to pay interest on them, he might be able to sell 80% at a price that covers both the interest and the debt. 10% is then pure profit and 10% is used to establish his own strawberry patch. He doesn’t really feel like eating the strawberries right as he leaves the market, because he has to pay interest on them in the future. It also needs to be remembered here that the 9 euros given to Virpi are Virpi’s property. Not Matti’s. They are not gifts, but simply repayment for the trust that Virpi showed by giving Matti the money to trade strawberries.
So, it’s pure agency theory. And by finance theory, I meant precisely that it does NOT “defend” dividend distribution because, for example, agency costs are very difficult to measure.
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Yes, agency theory can attempt to explain why management sometimes pays dividends, but it doesn’t prove that it’s in any way optimal.
Paying dividends alongside debt can reduce agency problems, but interest costs and opportunity costs are completely foolproof.
There’s no need for any theory on efficient markets or finance here, just some blue-collar common sense,!
That’s how it goes. And one might think it’s just my own nonsense, but when you read through some studies, most of them prove that acquisitions made with debt financing succeed much better than those made with free cash flow. It’s been a while since I looked into these, but the only case where acquisitions made with free cash flow perform better than those made with debt is when the buyer has an “excessive” leverage (debt ratio).
And I have read a couple of dozen studies on the topic.
It’s just a fact of sorts that things usually become unfocused and get out of hand if they are done without external financing. In a company, almost every single person benefits from acquisitions, no matter how bad they are (except the owners).
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Yeah, the problem isn’t with using debt, but rather the opportunity cost of dividend distribution.
When I pay myself a dividend, I try to do it at an interest rate below 8%.
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But what price do you put on the fact that Relais will continue to make good acquisitions in the future? I’m happy to pay a premium for the company maintaining its discipline and thinking through acquisitions three times over. You also have to remember that when you pay yourself a dividend, you’re likely the one actually running that business. Personally, I haven’t met Relais’s CEO or even visited their office.
Relais Group Plc: The Board of Directors of Relais Group has decided on a directed share issue due to an acquisition carried out by the group company Team Verkstad Relais Group Oyj: Relais Groupin hallitus on päättänyt suunnatusta osakeannista konserniyhtiö Team Verkstadin toteuttaman yrityskaupan johdosta | Kauppalehti
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Using the argument that taking on debt to pay dividends improves discipline is a somewhat confusing justification for dividends, especially without even considering interest expenses.
If I doubt the rationale behind acquisitions or capital allocation, I don’t hope for the company to take on debt to “improve discipline”; in that case, I simply wouldn’t invest in the company in question.