Company History

Microbus Electronic Service AB was founded on November 2, 1983. Starting a limited company in the 1980s was a considerably more complicated process compared to today, when the Swedish Companies Registration Office operates online.

In the 1980s, it was common practice to hire a law firm specialized in establishing companies. When Microbus was “born,” one of our first tasks was to name the company. The pre-packaged company initially carried the name “Grundstenen 16.169,” created by Svenska Standardbolag AB on October 11, 1983.

After the acquisition and activation of the company, it received its final name on November 2, 1983: Microbus Electronic Service AB.

The idea behind Microbus was to develop, sell, and service industrial electronic products. The company was intended to operate throughout southern Sweden, with three offices located in Malmö, Ljungby, and Jönköping.

Microbus was founded by five individuals: Ingemar Nybin, Mats Lindholm, Robert Olausson, Tommy Fristedt, and Bertil Nilsson. All except Bertil Nilsson were employed by the company from the beginning.

Starting a company simultaneously in three locations was not an easy task. The first six months consisted largely of preparatory work and negotiations. In March 1984, this resulted in Per Mauritzon joining as a passive shareholder, while Bertil left the company. For a period before Bertil transferred his shares, there were six shareholders. All formalities were resolved relatively quickly, and on June 4, 1984, all essential documentation with authorities, banks, and other institutions was finalized. However, the printed share certificates mistakenly carried Bertil’s name instead of Per’s.

Microbus was now equally owned by Ingemar, Mats, Robert, Tommy, and Per. Since the company had not yet begun active operations during the summer of 1984, Per Mauritzon is also considered one of the founders. The company’s shares were equally distributed among the founders.

Initially, Microbus worked with third-party service contracts to build equity capital. Sales exceeded expectations — business was good.

The capital surplus was invested in developing proprietary products. Among the products serviced were electronic scales, printers, and cash registers for retail.

In the mid-1980s, Microbus partners and customers included Svea Band, Atronic, KF Solidar, Kontorsdata Service, Bowlingservice AB, Mekaniaverken, Beijer Industri, and Elektrix. Only a few years after its founding, Microbus had developed several in-house products. Sales of proprietary products increased from 0% in 1983 to 30% of total revenue in 1986.

In 1986, one of Microbus’ partners, Elektrix, encountered financial difficulties. Despite having several large orders, the company lacked liquidity. A capital injection was required to complete necessary purchases and fulfill deliveries.

At the end of 1985, Microbus acquired Elektrix. At the time of acquisition, Microbus’ future CEO, Jan Niskala, was working as a contracted technician at Elektrix.

Following the acquisition, Jan accepted a position at Microbus as Production Manager and Programmer/Developer. Elektrix founder Leif Rix also joined Microbus as Development Manager. Leif was a skilled entrepreneur, innovator, and designer.

Leif, accustomed to working independently, found it challenging to work within a team and decided to leave after six months. The technical know-how required for manufacturing and further development of the acquired products remained within Microbus through Jan. Tommy assumed responsibility for some of Leif’s projects, while Jan continued development of the 165 mm displays and associated control boards.

The Elektrix acquisition provided Microbus with product lines that were fundamentally strong but had been poorly managed in terms of customers and technology. Microbus invested development and sales resources primarily into bowling scoreboards, identified as having strong potential. The deficiencies were quickly corrected, and sales accelerated. Two years later, bowling scoreboards accounted for one-third of the Malmö office’s revenue. That same year, Jan became a shareholder in Microbus.

The company’s 1,200 shares were now owned equally by six shareholders: Ingemar, Mats, Per, Robert, Tommy, and Jan.

One of Microbus’ early proprietary products was the MIDS Meter, designed by Tommy and adapted to Leif’s LED display. MIDS stands for Microbus Industrial Display System. It was a measuring instrument with large characters that could connect directly to a wide range of industrial standard sensors.

Another product developed during this period was Dialmatic, originally designed by Leif Rix. It could perform call forwarding between telephone numbers — functionality that the national telecommunications authority (Televerket) at the time could not provide.

Tommy managed the Jönköping office independently. Eventually, he found it demanding to operate alone while headquarters remained in Malmö. He received an offer to work as a developer for a Microbus customer in the United States and accepted.

Following Tommy’s departure, the Jönköping office was closed. His shares were distributed equally among the remaining owners. Microbus was now equally owned by Ingemar, Mats, Robert, Per, and Jan.

Microbus’ first mobile phone was a Mitsubishi Pocket Model P-08S/6U05, manufactured in Japan in 1987. It weighed 540 grams, had one hour of talk time and eight hours of standby time, and operated on the NMT network. The antenna had to be extended manually to make or receive calls.

In 1987, Microbus purchased four units for SEK 86,000 plus VAT.

In the autumn of 1989, Mats decided to leave Microbus to pursue other opportunities. Determining how his shares should be valued and distributed proved to be a difficult issue to resolve. Mats remained a shareholder for several years until negotiations with the Ljungby office and Björn’s entry were finalized. When Mats left, Jan was called into military service, making the situation particularly challenging for Ingemar, who for several months worked alone at the Microbus Malmö office.

Jan returned to Microbus with renewed energy and ideas. Together with Ingemar, he decided to hire Björn, whom Jan had met during his military service. After various discussions and negotiations with the Ljungby office, it was ultimately decided a year later that Björn would take over Mats’ shareholding.

When the company was founded in 1983, being geographically distributed was a significant advantage. It enabled Microbus to secure third-party service contracts covering the entire southern region of Sweden.

By 1990, however, the situation had changed. The Malmö office generated 90% of its revenue from proprietary products or local service assignments. The Ljungby office worked exclusively with local companies.

Both offices sought a solution in which Microbus would be divided into two legally separate companies. After a year of discussions and negotiations, an agreement was reached at a meeting in Stidsvig on December 16, 1992.

The Ljungby office would establish a new limited company named Microbus Ljungby AB. Microbus Electronic Service AB granted Microbus Ljungby the right to use the name Microbus and the same logotype. A financial settlement between the companies and shareholders was completed.

After the transaction, Microbus Electronic Service AB was owned by three individuals: Ingemar, Jan, and Björn, each holding 400 shares. Microbus Ljungby AB was owned equally by Robert and Per. Ingemar was now the last remaining shareholder among the original six founders. Around the same time, Microbus relocated from its office premises to a more suitable industrial facility near Ystadvägen in Malmö.

After many years of working together, both Björn and Ingemar began considering new opportunities, independently and without knowing the other’s thoughts. Ingemar decided first. Knowing that his strengths lay in sales, he proposed selling his entire shareholding while continuing to work as an employed salesperson for Microbus. Various solutions were considered.

When Ingemar received an offer from another company, the natural solution became that he would continue selling Microbus products through the new company. Ingemar sold his entire shareholding and, during a one-year transition period, continued selling Microbus products on a commission basis.

After Ingemar left the board, the company shifted strategy and focused on growth. With Björn and Jan leading the board, momentum increased significantly. A new expansion plan was implemented, including new premises, a new phone number, new hires, and the development of a completely new catalog and website.

Within a short time, Microbus sold several major systems to companies such as Scania, resulting in increased demand for engineers. Microbus both recruited new employees and hired temporary staff through staffing agencies. Two years after Ingemar’s departure, revenue had tripled. The company, which previously had only one employed technician (besides the owners), began expanding its workforce.

In spring 2018, on his 50th birthday, Björn Jönsson decided to leave the company and sell his shares — a difficult but necessary decision. He had gradually reduced his role in management in prior years and had faced personal challenges. During periods of absence in 2017, his responsibilities as CFO and Head of Purchasing were handled by replacement staff.