CFT (Catelli Food Technology),one of the world’s leading companies in the construction of food processing and packaging lines based in Parma, Italy, has acquired 61.72% of Comac, a leading company in the sector of bottling and kegging plants based in Bergamo, Italy. The purchase price, which will be effective upon closing of the deal in the coming weeks, is reported to be €25 million and values the total company at €40.1 million.
Comac, founded in 1990, has about 150 employees, has a turnover of €33.1 million, an Ebitda of approximately €6.1 million, a net profit of about €3.9 million, plus a net financial position of approximately €4.7 million.
Upon completion of the acquisition, the board of directors of Comac will be made up mostly of directors appointed by CFT, while the operational powers will remain with the sales partners, who will have a minority among the members of the board of directors.
The former owners of Comac - the brothers Giuseppe and Marco Scudeletti, together with the brothers Giorgio and Fabio Donadoni – originally held the entire share capital of the Bergamo-based company equally divided into 25% each. After the pro-quota sale of 15.43, summing up to 61.72%, the former owners still hold the remaining 38.28% of the capital, which can be sold, according to a clause in the contract, within the next five years.
CFT was established in 2006 after the merger of the two food plant engineering and manufacturing companies, Rossi & Catelli and Manzini.
Roberto Catelli, president of CFT Group and Alessandro Merusi, CEO of CFT Group, said in a press statement: "With the acquisition, the CFT Group continues its diversification strategy, further strengthening its competitive positioning in the beverage sector and in particular in the filling of beer, completing the current commercial offer, consisting of the brewing facilities currently supplied through the German subsidiary Rolec Prozess und Brautechnik GmbH, and the automatic systems for filling in glass and cans, and semi-automatic systems for the packaging of drinks in barrels, where Comac is the market leader in the production and marketing. This operation will allow the CFT Group, through a range of products of undisputed technological leadership, to provide its customers with complete "turnkey" solutions, consolidating a relevant competitive position in a sector that presents interesting prospects for development ".
The acquisition is part of the broader strategy of consolidating the competitive positioning of the CFT group in one of the reference businesses, that of beer, through the expansion of the product portfolio, to be implemented also downstream and due to the business combination. "Our goal is to develop our product portfolio with cutting-edge solutions, in order to further strengthen our commercial presence in the world, and in order to offer our customers a complete offer through an optimal service".
