A RARE BIRD
Its rapid rise and acquisition-fuelled transformation makes Hexagon a rare bird among Sweden's top 20 listed companies by market value, most of which are businesses a century or more old, which critics say shows a lack of dynamism in Sweden.
But the growth has not come without risks, highlighted when its heavy debt burden was seen as too risky in the financial crisis following the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers, when Hexagon only narrowly avoided breaching its loan covenants.
"If you are poor and are going to build something big, then you have to take risks," said Rollen, who owns 2 million, or 0.6 percent, of Hexagon shares, according to the firm's website.
Since then, Hexagon has lowered its net debt to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization ratio to its target of 2.5 to attain investment grade on any notes it issues, down from about five after Intergraph was acquired in 2010.
That still leaves it well above the Swedish engineering companies against which it is measured, despite now generating more than half its sales from software. Atlas Copco's net debt to EBITDA ratio is 0.4.
"The worry about the debt levels has been the Achilles heel that has sent the share down in the past," said Nordea equity strategist Mattias Eriksson, whose bank has a hold recommendation on the stock.
"Now they have room to make acquisitions again ... That is more or less what people have been waiting for really - that they dream up something new and exciting."
Rollen said four or five potential big acquisitions were always on the radar of the group, which is now headquartered in London, and its goal of reaching sales of 3.5 billion euros and a 25 percent margin in 2015 would alone require 300-400 million euros of acquisitions.
"We can deliver on this plan while keeping our debt in absolute numbers roughly where it is and still make acquisitions and pay dividends and reach our targets," he said.
LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU
Rollen, who in his youth played the guitar in a rock band that cut a record deal with ABBA manager Stikkan Anderson, has a knack for showmanship.
Nowhere was this more evident than when he took the stage before thousands of customers in an Orlando, Florida, ballroom in June 2011 to Robbie William's raucous "Let Me Entertain You" to deliver a keynote that smacked more of show business than corporate presentation.
His high profile has some wondering how the company would fare without him. When he sold 1.7 million shares in mid-2011 to pay personal debts, the sale set off a 40-percent slide in the share price, though it has since recovered.
"The company certainly doesn't stand and fall with him," said Bjorn Enarson, analyst at Nordik bank Danske, which also has a hold recommendation on the stock.
"But the valuation may include some hopes he will figure out another exciting thing that turns into a new major shift for the company. And that hope might expire if he disappeared."
Rollen says the prospect of leaving is not on his mind.
"It is still fun," he said, and cited a remark made by one-time board member Carl-Henric Svanberg, now chairman of British oil and gas group BP.
"He said at a board meeting that the graveyard is full of irreplaceable people. One day I will resign and it will work out fine finding a successor."
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