Acquires 61% shares in Lamiflex, minority stake in NoeCha
Itema, the world’s largest privately-held provider of advanced weaving solutions, including best-in-class weaving machines, spare parts and integrated services, finalized the agreements to acquire 61 per cent of shares of Lamiflex, a leading supplier of technical composite products, and a minority stake in NoeCha, provider of high-tech, wide-format printing solutions.
The acquisitions are part of a wider strategy of Itema and its shareholders, namely, the Radici family with 60 per cent of shares and the Arizzi e Torri families with the remaining 40 per cent, to ultimately accelerate the continued expansion and secure the long-term profitability of Itema. This is proposed to be carried out by diversifying into complementary, high-growth markets through stakes in innovation-driven companies that offer significant economies of scale to fuel the joint development of each other’s core businesses.
“Following a remarkable five-year period in which the Itema Group has doubled the sales of its weaving machines with consecutive, double-digit growth per annum, the company is now ready to strengthen its leadership, to quicken the pace of its expansion and to accelerate its global reach through targeted acquisitions,” said Carlo Rogora, CEO of the Itema Group.
“We chose Lamiflex and NoeCha due to their forward-thinking missions and innovative approaches, which perfectly match our dedication to supply top-performing, advanced machinery. Combining our strengths, we will no doubt reach new heights of success in the development and manufacturing of innovative, highly technological products. Itema will guarantee to Lamiflex and NoeCha customers worldwide a structured organization, based on lean manufacturing concepts in its world-class production sites and on a global network of agents and distributors,” continued Rogora. “We are confident that this first round of acquisitions will act as an important launch-pad for our diversification strategy and will bring positive results in the nearest future, creating significant synergies and adding value for our customers and shareholders.”
Headquartered in Ponte Nossa, Bergamo province, Lamiflex specializes in composite materials such as carbon, glass and Kevlar and offers a portfolio of innovative solutions and patented new products with exceptional versatility and adaptability for industrial applications, catering to industries as wide-ranging as weaving machinery, medical and aerospace, among others.
NoeCha, also Bergamo-based, is a quickly scaling up young company that offers high-tech printing solutions such as the revolutionary wide-format industrial UV-LED flatbed digital press, the NoeCha ONE, for photo-realistic, high impact graphics. NoeCha ensures excellent printability on different types and sizes of material up to 3.2 x 2 meters at production speeds with a native 600 dpi x 600 dpi image resolution.
Itema Group’s move is set to create and stimulate significant synergies along the respective supply chains in which Itema, Lamiflex and NoeCha as well as RadiciGroup companies operate and to grow not only in the textile machinery sector, but also to expand into new, highly innovative sectors such as composites, and thus, together, be much more competitive than otherwise possible individually. These acquisitions will lead to optimizing processes and improving product performances, as well as providing advantages derived from a shorter, more sustainable supply chain, lessening the environmental impact of the joint operations, in line with the principles of a circular, greener economy.