Auran Pesupojat Oy is the largest carpet washing operation in the Turku region — a single-operator specialist cleaning business operating from a 270 m² industrial workshop at Iso-Heikkiläntie 4 since 2015. The core offering is professional carpet washing (mattopesu) using industrial flat-wash and drum-wash equipment: every carpet type from budget synthetic to hand-knotted silk, handled by machine or by hand. The secondary — and premium — service is boat cover (venekuomu) washing, waterproofing and mould treatment, a niche with zero local competition and customers travelling from across Finland.
The company is owned and run entirely by Asko Haahtela, who has built a loyal customer base spanning generations — organically, with less than 300€/year in marketing spend (website hosting only). The business has never needed to advertise. Thousands of individual customers, plus established B2B accounts across all service lines, most relationships 10+ years old.
Financials are clean: no debt, consistent profitability over four years, and cash on the balance sheet. The business is being sold via broker Suomen Yrityskaupat Oy. Asko is retiring and is willing to transition over up to 12 months at 4,000€/month, training incoming staff. He has no plans to set up a competing operation.
Location: The building (originally a bread factory) has exceptional electrical infrastructure. The landlord has made serious long-term investments — dedicated heating plant, ongoing renovations — and operates a golf simulator in the adjacent space. There is potential for expansion into that adjacent area. Long-term tenancy since 2015 indicates landlord stability.
| Service | Method | Pricing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carpet washing — flat wash (laakapesu) | Catinet flat-wash line + centrifuge | 12.90–22.90 €/m² | Oriental, wool, silk, synthetic, natural fibre rugs |
| Carpet washing — drum wash | Electrolux drum washers | 12.90 €/m² | Cotton and rag rugs |
| Boat cover cleaning + waterproofing | Specialised mould removal + impregnation | ~25 €/m² | Service since 1993; national demand; no local competition |
| Home textiles — duvets, pillows, mattresses | Large drum washers | 18–85 €/item | All sizes; mattress pads washed whole |
| Sheets — washed & mangled | Drum wash + mangle | 7 €/kg (min. 6 kg) | Flat linen service |
| Corporate textiles | All methods | By quote | Advertising tents, banners, commercial carpets |
| Segment | Est. share | Est. revenue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| B2C — general cleaning & laundry | ~70% | ~134K | Recurring, walk-in and contracted |
| B2C/B2B — boat covers | >10% | ~20K+ | Growing niche; limited competition nationally |
| B2B — commercial clients | ~20% | ~38K | Client list to be confirmed at DD. Asko is retiring — no compete risk. |
| Total | ~192K |
Lease with Kiinteistöyhtymä Lahtonen, running since December 2015. Rent: 2,000€/month (24,000€/year) including heating. Electricity and water billed at consumption. The lease is rolling with a 6-month mutual notice period. CPI-indexed annually. The lease was originally signed under Acotim Oy Lieto / Auran Pesupojat — this name discrepancy requires clarification, though it is not expected to be an issue in a share deal structure.
All figures EUR thousands. Fiscal year Feb 1 – Jan 31. Sheet labels lag calendar year by one month.
| Line item | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 165 | 180 | 192 | 190 |
| Materials & services | −9 | −8 | −7 | −8 |
| Personnel costs | −89 | −91 | −91 | −97 |
| Other opex | −44 | −49 | −46 | −49 |
| EBITDA | 23 | 32 | 48 | 37 |
| EBITDA margin | 14% | 18% | 25% | 19% |
| Depreciation | −7 | −10 | −8 | −6 |
| EBIT | 16 | 22 | 41 | 31 |
| Net profit | 13 | 18 | 33 | 24 |
Revenue grew at ~5% CAGR from FY2023 to FY2025 before plateauing in FY2026. FY2025 was the peak earnings year (48K EBITDA, 25% margin). FY2026 margin compression was driven by a 6.6K increase in personnel costs with flat revenue — a one-year anomaly rather than a structural shift. The business has no debt and carried 26K cash at year-end FY2026.
Opco (Auran Pesupojat) P&L under Askel ownership. Management fee is a cash-routing mechanism to holdco (TripleH/Askel Ventures) and nets to zero in consolidation. EBITDA excl. MF represents the true operational earnings.
| Line item | 2026E | 2027E | 2028E | 2029E | 2030E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opco | |||||
| Revenue (incl. Melers +10K) | 200 | 210 | 221 | 232 | 243 |
| Materials & services | −8 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −9 |
| Personnel (transition → stable) | −94 | −83 | −87 | −91 | −96 |
| Other opex | −49 | −51 | −53 | −56 | −59 |
| EBITDA excl. MF | 49 | 68 | 73 | 76 | 79 |
| EBITDA margin excl. MF | 25% | 33% | 33% | 33% | 33% |
| Management fee to holdco | −50 | −50 | −50 | −75 | −75 |
| EBITDA incl. MF (opco retained) | −1 | 18 | 23 | 1 | 4 |
| Opco cash EoY | 24 | 37 | 53 | 53 | 57 |
| Holdco (TripleH / Askel Ventures) | |||||
| MF revenue | 50 | 50 | 50 | 75 | 75 |
| Holdco costs | −10 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −10 |
| Financing costs | −10 | −10 | −8 | −6 | −5 |
| Tax | −6 | −5 | −6 | −11 | −11 |
| Holdco net income | 24 | 25 | 26 | 48 | 49 |
| Holdco cash EoY | 81 | 24 | 25 | 47 | 71 |
| Bank loan balance | 152 | 127 | 101 | 76 | 51 |
Assumptions: 5% annual revenue growth from 2027; personnel stabilises at 83K post-Asko (2027+); Melers synergy +10K confirmed from day 1; MF 50K years 1–3, 75K years 4–5, 100K year 6+.
| Criterion | Askel thesis | Auran Pesupojat standalone | As Melers plug-in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 400K–1.5M EUR | Miss — 190K | Partial — combined Melers + Pesupojat approaches threshold |
| Profit | 100K+ | Miss — 49K adjusted EBITDA excl. MF | Partial — combined opco EBITDA moves materially closer |
| Asking price | Max 1M | Pass — 190K | Pass |
| Company age | 10+ year Oy | Pass — est. 2015, 11 years | Pass |
| Sector | Laundromats, cleaners, waste | Pass — textile cleaning specialist | Pass — direct sector adjacency to Melers |
| Geography | Finland | Pass — Turku | Pass — same city as Melers |
On a standalone basis, Auran Pesupojat falls below Askel's revenue and profit thresholds. The investment is proposed as a follow-on acquisition to Melers Oy, Askel's existing industrial laundry operation in Turku. The two businesses operate in directly adjacent niches, serve overlapping customer segments, and are located in the same city.
The following synergies support the combined case:
The base case uses conservative 5% annual revenue growth. Current machines can comfortably handle double the current revenue — drying capacity is the only soft constraint, solvable by converting available storage space. Five specific levers exist to accelerate growth, all independent of major capital investment.
Currently >10% of revenue (~20K+) with zero marketing. Customers travel from across Finland because the service is genuinely scarce — the boat cover programme has been running since 1993 and there is no equivalent operator with comparable equipment and expertise on the south-west coast. Askel's digital marketing capability could convert this into a national brand. Even capturing demand from three or four major coastal cities would double this segment. Highest-margin, lowest-competition growth lever in the business.
There is weekly customer demand for carpet pickup and delivery that the business currently doesn't offer. Asko estimates this alone could generate ~1,000€/month of incremental revenue. A single logistics hire or partnership would unlock this immediately, and it's trivially marketable via the existing website.
Current marketing spend: <300€/year (website hosting). Social media presence: none. Local SEO: minimal. The business has been running entirely on word-of-mouth for a decade — which speaks to quality but means almost no new customer acquisition. A small investment in Google Ads, social proof content, and an online booking form would likely double inbound enquiries.
Finnish dog ownership (~800,000 dogs) drives persistent demand for deep carpet cleaning. As rental apartments increasingly come without carpets, the premium private-home carpet segment — the most price-insensitive — becomes more concentrated. Both trends favour a specialist operator over general laundromats.
Askel's Melers industrial washing facility already generates 10K in confirmed synergy by internalising carpet and textile cleaning currently outsourced to third parties. This is in the base case. Additional cross-selling between Melers and Pesupojat clients is possible and not yet modelled.
The 200K+ startup cost is not a looming capex obligation — it is a barrier to entry. There is essentially no functional used market for specialist carpet washing equipment (much is custom-made). No Finnish vocational training programme exists for this trade — knowledge is artisanal and takes years to acquire. A new competitor in Turku would need 200K+ in capital, a large industrial space, and 2–3 years to ramp. This is structural protection, not luck.
Carpet washing in Finland is a fragmented cottage industry — a handful of specialists in each city, no national chains, no VC-backed rollup. The total addressable market in the Turku region (pop. ~200K) is modest but predictable: carpets need washing every 1–3 years; boat covers need annual maintenance; home textiles have no self-service alternative. The demand profile is structurally recurring and largely weather-agnostic for the core carpet business.
Pricing in the segment has held up well — Turku operators are broadly aligned at 13–17€/m² for standard flat wash, with specialists charging up to 23€/m² for premium materials. There is no meaningful price compression risk from online platforms or new formats.
| Operator | Est. | Offering | Pricing | Threat level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turun Kotipesula Oy Ruunikkokatu 3, Turku |
1992 | Carpets (flat wash, drum wash), home textiles. Specialist operator, similar positioning to Pesupojat. | Flat wash 16.80 €/m² (all-in). Drum wash 33–43 €/machine. | Direct |
| Viherpesu Oy Turku |
— | Full-service commercial laundry (workwear, restaurant linen, mats). Carpets are one of many product lines, not a focus. | B2B pricing, contract-based. | Indirect |
| Clean Pesulapalvelut Raisio (relocated 2024) |
~2006 | General textile cleaning — primarily clothing/dry cleaning. Recent relocation may indicate instability. Carpet washing is marginal. | Clothing-focused pricing, not comparable. | Peripheral |
| 24 Pesula Multiple Turku locations |
— | Self-service laundromats with flat-wash machines for hard-base rugs. DIY model, lower quality, no specialist cleaning. | Self-service pricing, no labour component. | Different segment |
| Pesula Sani Oy Turku |
— | General laundry. Subcontracts carpet washing — does not operate own equipment. Potential referral source. | — | Non-competitor |
Salon Mattopesupojat Oy (est. 1985, Salo, ~50km east of Turku) is the closest sector comparable — same service mix (carpets, boat covers, sails, furniture textiles), same regional market, 30+ years of operation. At 3.5× the revenue of Auran Pesupojat with 7 employees, their financials are instructive:
| Salon Mattopesupojat | Auran Pesupojat | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue (2024) | 689K | 190K |
| Operating result | −53K (−7.7%) | +31K (+16%) |
| Employees | 7 | 1 |
| Revenue per FTE | ~99K | ~190K |
The contrast is striking. Scaling in this sector does not improve margins — it appears to destroy them. Salon Mattopesupojat lost 147K in 2023 and 53K in 2024 on nearly 700K of revenue. Auran Pesupojat earns 31K EBIT on 190K. The single-operator structure is not a fragility to engineer away; it is the reason the economics work. The hiring question for Askel is not "how do we scale staff" but "how do we find one excellent person and keep headcount at 1–2."
No dedicated national boat cover washing specialist was identified. The closest comparables are cover manufacturers with incidental cleaning services (MP-Venekuomu, Venetex/Nauvo) — these are repair-first operations, not cleaning specialists. Auran Pesupojat has been running dedicated boat cover programmes since 1993, with a purpose-built mould treatment + waterproofing process. This is effectively a national monopoly in a niche with genuine demand across Finland's 300,000+ registered boats.
Source: inventory memo provided by Asko Haahtela, March 2026. Three Catinet machines are the operational backbone — combined installed cost >80,000 € incl. VAT.
| Equipment | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Catinet flat washer (tasopesukone) | 2016 | Max working width 300 cm, integrated roller press. ~25 m²/hr capacity for suitable carpets. |
| Catinet tube centrifuge — large | 2018 | 1800 rpm, 250 cm drum length. Removes wash water before drying. |
| Catinet tube centrifuge — medium | 2018 | 300 cm drum length. 3 Catinet units combined cost >80K incl. VAT. |
| Electrolux drum washer — 28 kg | Jul 2023 | New addition; handles large textiles and mattress pads. |
| Esteri Quatro dryer | Jan 2024 | New addition. |
| Taplet Sahara Eko dryer | Sep 2023 | New addition. |
| Kärcher pressure washer | 2025 | New addition; boat cover pre-treatment. |
| Electrolux drum washers — various | 1990s+ | Multiple sizes. Still operational. Workhorses for standard drum wash. |
| Horizontal centrifuge | Older | Large drum, well-maintained. Handles mattress pads. |
| Electrolux drum dryer — 600L | — | High-capacity drying for large items. |
| Crane, 250 kg capacity | — | For lifting heavy carpets. |
| Jun-Air compressors (×2) | 2016, 2018 | Quiet operation; well-maintained. |
| VW Transporter van, 2016, 67,500 km | 2016 | Full service history — not included in deal. |
Two Lakeuden Kylmätekniikka units currently not operational — minor only, not core to production. Substantial supporting infrastructure: stainless steel work tables, rolling benches, specialized carpet transport carts, shelving.
| Risk | Severity | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Key-person — Asko Haahtela The entire business runs on one person. Operations, B2B relationships, institutional knowledge. |
High | 12-month transition, Asko trains incoming staff. 30% of price withheld until exit. Mitigated but not eliminated. |
| B2B client retention (~38K revenue) 20% of revenue is commercial. Retention risk exists post-Asko departure. |
Medium | Asko is retiring — no competing business. Client list and contract status to be confirmed at DD stage. 12-month transition helps retain relationships. |
| Staff transition speed Model assumes 6-month Asko overlap. If hiring takes 10–12 months, year-1 personnel costs rise ~27K, compressing EBITDA. |
Medium | 25K opco cash buffer absorbs this. Start recruitment process before close to minimise lag. |
| Lease continuity Rolling 6-month notice. Landlord could terminate. Name discrepancy (Acotim Oy) on current lease document. |
Medium | Request landlord estoppel letter or written lease confirmation as closing condition. Clarify Acotim name. 10+ year relationship is positive signal. |
| Revenue plateau FY2026 revenue dipped slightly vs. FY2025. Growth was Asko-constrained, not market-constrained — but needs validation. |
Low | Melers synergy (+10K) and boat cover digitisation provide near-term organic upside. Model conservatively assumes 5%/year. |
| Equipment capex — 200K replacement cost Book value 16K (near fully depreciated). 200K replacement cost confirmed — but this is the cost to build a NEW competing operation from scratch, not an imminent replacement obligation. Core Catinet machines (installed 2016–2018, >80K installed cost) have a 15–20yr expected lifespan; at 8–10 years old, they have significant runway. Recent investments show active maintenance: 28kg Electrolux washer (July 2023), Esteri Quatro dryer (Jan 2024), Kärcher pressure washer (2025), Taplet Sahara Eko (Sep 2023). Older Electrolux drum washers from the 1990s still operational. |
Low–Med | Equipment inventory with installation dates received from Asko. Core machinery (Catinet flat-wash line, two centrifuges) is 8–10 years old, roughly halfway through expected life. Pattern of ongoing reinvestment is positive. No wholesale replacement expected within the investment horizon. Independent condition assessment remains a sensible DD step but is no longer a blocking risk. |
Auran Pesupojat is a well-run, debt-free, cash-generating micro-business with ten years of operational history in Turku. It fits Askel's acquisition thesis — profitable, overlooked, and with a motivated seller willing to support a clean transition. The financials are transparent and the deal structure is straightforward.
At 190–195K (3.9x year-1 EBITDA), the entry price is fair. The return profile is strong: 24K net income to equity in year 1 on a 38K equity investment (63% cash-on-cash), loan fully repaid by 2032, and an optionality upside in the boat cover segment that is currently untapped.
The main risk is key-person concentration. This is partially mitigated by the structured 12-month transition, deferred payment, and confirmed retirement (no compete). The equipment narrative has been substantially clarified: the 200K figure is the cost to build a competing operation from scratch, not an imminent replacement obligation. Core machinery is 8–10 years old with an expected 15–20yr lifespan and active ongoing reinvestment. The 200K is a competitive moat, not a liability.
Upside is underappreciated: zero marketing, double the capacity headroom, a transport service nobody is offering, and a boat cover niche with national reach and no local competitor. The business is quietly exceptional.
Recommendation: authorise offer at 190K, ceiling 195K, conditional on (a) independent equipment condition assessment and (b) completion of tax DD and lease confirmation.