The move has allowed Rollon to earn a leading position in Europe for its line of actuators, and also opens the field for future acquisitions of new market shares, mainly in Germany, France, the USA and emerging countries.
A new growth phase for Rollon, which over the past year has opened two branches – in China and India – and is growing by 6% annually.
Milan, 13 January 2015 – Rollon, the international group based in Vimercate, a world leader in the production of linear motion systems for various sectors, announces the closure of the transaction with the Italian company Tecno Center involving the acquisition of the Turin producer of linear actuators and components for linear motion systems for industrial automation. Rollon entered the linear actuator market in 2011 by acquiring the Italian company El.More.
The Tecno Center acquisition aims at strengthening Rollon’s offer in the actuator segment, as well as expanding its current range with complementary and technologically advanced and more complex products capable of high performance in applications in industrial sectors such as domestic appliances, automotive and machine tools. As a result, Rollon’s actuator range is the most competitive in Italy and among the most complete worldwide, which strengthens the group’s offer in Italy and all other areas where Rollon is already present with branches or sales offices: in Europe (Germany and France), the USA, and emerging markets (Brazil, Russia, China and India).
The acquisition is aligned with Rollon’s growth strategy, which is focused on purchasing an industrial production company to create perfect integration an industrial level and leverage commercial synergies: Tecno Center will be able to take advantage of the international network of Rollon. Tecno Center products are already being made in Vimercate where the entire workforce of the Turin company is now employed.
Tecno Center, founded in 1971 in Venaria Reale (Turin), can boast strong leadership in the national market, where it generates about 80% of its income, while the remaining 20% comes from abroad. In 2014 Rollon saw a growth in revenue of 6%. In the same year it opened new branches in Shanghai, China and Bangalore, India, which have been added to its existing branches in France, Germany, and the USA and its sales offices in Russia and Brazil. Today, the Group has over 300 employees, over half of which work at the factory in Vimercate, the only one of its kind in the world.
The acquisition was finalized with the support and commitment of Chequers Capital and IGI SGR, the majority shareholders. The involvement of Chequers Capital as the majority shareholder of Rollon, alongside its co-investor IGI SGR, gives Rollon the means to consider acquisitions of any size in the linear guides market segment in which the group operates. This acquisition also demonstrates the approach of both Chequers Capital and IGI SGR to pursue the growth of their portfolio companies through an active acquisition policy.
“Chequers is very happy with the Tecno Center acquisition which complements Rollon’s actuators line and will boost further organic growth in the European markets only one year after our acquisition of Rollon,” said Jérôme Kinas, Director of Chequers Capital.
“Our strategy was to purchase a manufacturing company that would allow us to capitalize on commercial synergies and to achieve industrial integration – with Tecno Center, we have succeeded in doing this,” said Eraldo Bianchessi, CEO of Rollon Group. “This operation will expand Rollon’s product range to make it one of the biggest and most complete in the world. Our next goal is to expand Tecno Center products outside of Italy, in particular in Germany, the US, and France and then in China, India, and other emerging countries where Rollon is consolidating its business”.