139EY Family Business Yearbook 2016 |

Award winners Latin America Colombia

A business that makes balloons is one of South America’s greatest export success stories. Sempertex, a family business, was founded by a refugee from Nazi Austria. And under his son Oswald Loewy, the business has grown into one of Colombia’s most successful companies.

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Oswald LoewySempertex SA

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“I’m anti-nepotism, and that needs to come across to all the workers in the company, whether they are non-family or family.”

Oswald Loewy, President and CEO, Sempertex SA

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throughout the next decade. But in 1970, Emil became very sick and had to leave the running of the business to his wife Ligia.

Oswald achieved faster growth

With his father ill and his mother running the business and raising a family, Oswald decided to join the business sooner than had originally been planned. “My mother, who was driving the firm at the time, was a huge support in those early years,” he says.

Oswald is the eldest of seven children. Before joining the family business full time in 1978, he gained a degree in Business Administration. And after he started working at Sempertex, he honed his business skills by completing several Postgraduate degrees in High Management. “When I joined, the company was doing OK, but all the production was sold to one big buyer,” he says. “I wanted to change this and grow things much more rapidly.” To achieve faster growth, Oswald and Sempertex made a big decision: to manufacture balloons only and to stop making all the other products. “I led the new vision of Sempertex to be the best manufacturer of balloons in the world,” says Oswald. That decision was made, in part, because it promised the company greater profits. “The profit on balloons is around four times greater than other products,” says Oswald.

Colombian business Sempertex is one of the world’s biggest makers of balloons. Its Chief Executive is Oswald Loewy, who has transformed the small latex rubber company founded by his father into the hugely successful business that it is today. His entrepreneurial vision has been central to the growth of Sempertex into a global brand.

Based in the northern Colombian city of Barranquilla, Sempertex makes natural rubber latex balloons. In fact, it makes three million balloons daily and employs more than 1,000 people, 80% women,

to do so. Last year, Sempertex had revenues of US$31m and exported to more than 70 countries in 5 continents.

The company’s story goes back to 1938, when Oswald’s father Emil Loewy, a Jewish refugee from Austria, came to Colombia.

“He left Austria just a couple of weeks before the Nazis entered the country,” says Oswald. “He was lucky to get out.”

Before leaving Austria, Emil had worked in a rubber company. When he came to Colombia, he used this experience to set up on his own. “He actually went to the jungle to source the latex,” says Oswald. “And he used a bread oven from a ship to process the rubber.” Under Emil’s management, the business made products such as rubber gloves, condoms and baby pacifiers. In 1960, Emil launched Sempertex, and the business grew steadily

Award winners Latin America Colombia

01 The first and second generations: (clockwise) Oswald, Amalia, Kenneth, Lawrence, Lisette, Johanna and Karen (Emil and Ligia in the center); 02 the Loewy family, 1918 (Emil second on the left); 03 the store of Oswald Loewy in Salzburg, Austria, barred by Nazi soldiers; 04 the former home of the Loewy family in Salzburg.

The artist Rie Hosokai is well-known for his work with balloons.

A balloon installation by the Japanese artist Rie Hosokai.

The booth of Sempertex at the international toy fair in Nuremberg, Germany, 2016.

01 02 03 04

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“Sempertex looks to the long term. We know that the survival of the industry — from rubber tree tapping, all the way to the consumer — depends on the responsibility, professionalism and integrity of the manufacturers.”Oswald Loewy

grow abroad. And in 1995, Sempertex, which had previously bought all of its balloon-manufacturing machines, started making its own, which further accelerated growth. During these years, Oswald traveled constantly to explore markets, establish relationships and attend international trade fairs.

The price of rubber always fluctuates. Oswald says that, to deal with this unpredictability, it helps to focus on the long term.

“There are many temptations for manufacturers to cut costs by buying cheaper materials or compromising standards,” he says.

In his efforts to grow the balloon business, Oswald recognized the importance of marketing; in particular, television advertising.

“I managed to find a way of buying cheaper advertising slots for Sempertex on Colombian TV, which helped to grow the brand and improve sales.” All these efforts saw the business grow rapidly during the 1980s and, in some years, the company achieved revenue growth of as much as 45%. But by the early 1990s, Oswald realized that the Colombian market was going to be too small for the company’s ambitions. So he decided to open a new state-of-the-art, 40,000m2 factory to help the business

“But Sempertex looks to the long term. We know that the survival of the industry — from rubber tree tapping, all the way to the consumer — depends on the responsibility, professionalism and integrity of the manufacturers. We will always have the highest standards. And all our suppliers are committed to this long-term plan.” Sempertex also has a strong commitment to Barranquilla, the city in which it has its headquarters. The company is one of the biggest private-sector employers in the city, which sits in the delta of the Magdalena River, near the Caribbean coast.

Improving governance

Although Oswald is a great believer in the importance of family business, he sees Sempertex first and foremost as an entrepreneurial group led by all its workers. “It’s important to be seen as transparent,” he says. “I’m anti-nepotism, and that needs to come across to all the workers in the company, whether they are non-family or family.” With this in mind, in 2001, the family drew up a constitution designed to improve governance and help family members interact with the business. These rules state that family members must work outside the family business for at least three years with a reputable company before joining Sempertex.

“I will work for Sempertex for another seven to ten years”, says Oswald. “Then, I will retire.” His two sisters both work at Sempertex: Amalia Loewy is the company’s Chief Visionary Officer, and Lissette Loewy runs the family office. One of Oswald’s nephews, Leonidas Oyaga, a member of the third generation, has also recently joined the company. For Oswald, his new challenge is to prepare his succession.

No doubt, during seven years at the company, Oswald will often be found getting on a plane to go and explore new markets. And once he has retired, it seems likely that his example will continue to inspire Sempertex, and that the company will go on displaying many of the best features of a family business long into the future.

Award winners Latin America Colombia

Oswald LoewyPresident and CEO

Company name: Sempertex SA

Generation(s): Second and third

Founded: 1938 in Barranquilla, Colombia

Industry: Consumer goods

Employees (2015): 1,040

Revenue (2015): US$31m

The Sempertex SA factory in Barranquilla, Colombia.

Members of the second and third generations of the Loewy family.