Rollon and its controlling holding Linear Guides Invest (“LGI”) have been acquired by The Timken Company, a world-leader in engineered bearings and power transmission products.
Rollon is a specialist in linear motion solutions founded in 1975. With more than 600 employees across its headquarters in Italy, manufacturing operations in Italy, Germany and the United States and a global presence, Rollon is an international leader in the production and sales of linear and telescopic rails and actuators for many sectors, including industrial automation, railway, aeronautics, logistics, packaging and medical.
Pan-European private equity fund Chequers Capital acquired Rollon in 2013 through LGI, alongside minority shareholders IGI Private Equity and Rollon’s management.
“With the support and strong backing of Chequers and IGI, Rollon has invested to set up a global presence through a program of geographic expansion. At the same time, Rollon strengthened its production base and products range with the targeted acquisitions of TecnoCenter, Hegra, TMT and T-Race, allowing to offer one of the most complete range of linear motion solutions on the market. Constant investments into research and development has allowed to integrate them successfully, while achieving greater customization and functionality of products. Since the acquisition by Chequers and IGI, the Group doubled its revenues through a combination of strong organic and inorganic growth.
“Chequers and IGI are proud of the performance of the company, which has been delivered with the commitment of the entire organization, from employees to shareholders, under the strong leadership of Eraldo Bianchessi and Rudiger Knevels, Group Chairman and CEO” said Philippe Guerin and Bertrand Rabiller from Chequers and Matteo Cirla and Angelo Mastrandrea from IGI.
“We are convinced Rollon and its teams will expand further within Timken, thanks to the group strong international presence. For Rollon, this marks the beginning of a new era with important opportunities for strategic development and international market growth” said Philippe Guerin and Rudiger Knevels.
In the scope of the transaction, the Sellers (for Chequers: Bertrand Rabiller, Philippe Guerin, Vivien Le Nestour; for IGI: Matteo Cirla, Angelo Mastrandrea, Francesco Griffi) were assisted by Lazard (Michele Marocchino, Jim Conniff, Edoardo Schiavina) as Financial Advisor, by Simmons & Simmons (Andrea Accornero, Moira Gamba, Alessandro Bonazzi) and Loyens & Loeff (Imme Kam, Bastiaan Cornelisse) as Legal Advisors and by Fieldfisher (Luca Pangrazzi) as Tax Advisor. PricewaterhouseCoopers (Giovanni Tinuper, Alessandro Vitali), ERM (Giovanni Aquaro, Flavia Brusati) and DV Studio Legale (Robert Via) also advised the sellers in the transaction.