Having been involved in the purchase of multiple small busineses, it will be very difficult for the Lelit owners to stay motivated under the new owners. Having made a lot of money through the transaction and offset significant responsibilities to Breville; a regular salary won’t be a good enough reason to endure the Breville bureaucracy and ways of working, let alone continue to work hard and take risks.
There is usually a retention incentive (ownership of shares; price adjustment, etc.) but they only last for so long. Non-compete clauses can sometimes play a role, but with people who don’t need a job or in certain geographies these have little effect… And who knows, we might find the same people working under a different brand in a few years.
As to Breville, the temptation will be to rationalize what Lelit did and possibly improving the market access of their products. There may be ways to cut costs (custom parts made in China rather than expensive Italian stuff), focus on the most profitable products and possibly invest in the plant to increase volume, but keeping the creativity and risk taking mindset of the original owners will be difficult.
All in all, Kudos to the Lelit family but I’m not sure that coffee amateurs will gain much from this transaction.