06.12.2018

European merger for Fraco and Turboiber Elevación

Canadian mastclimber manufacturer Fraco has reached an agreement to merge its UK and French subsidiaries - Fraco UK and Fraco Sasu - with Spanish sales and rental company Turboiber Elevación, in order to expand its sales and market penetration across Europe.

Fraco says the partnership will allow it to benefit from Turboiber’s knowledge of European markets, while Turboiber, which was established in 1982 and operates from three locations in Spain - Madrid, Barcelona and Seville - is focusing on the fact that it will be part of a 1,000 unit aerial work platform rental fleet with six locations across three countries.

Fraco co-president Julie Rainville said: “The strategic partnership will allow Fraco to focus on the fabrication of innovative lifting products and to benefit of the extended knowledge of the European markets by Turboiberi. Fraco now has the resources to design products that fit the specific needs of European markets.”

Turboiber managing partner Jaime Nieto added: “This deal was not made hastily, we took the time to appreciate our new partners before jumping into this. To ensure that we share a common vision and values, which will help us to make the new partnership a success.”

Vertikal Comment

This looks like a smart move on the part of both parties. Fraco has been operating in France and the UK for some time, but has struggled in recent years to make further progress in Europe. While moving beyond the current three market concentration will require more than just a merger, the larger more international business will have greater resources to expand in markets such as the Benelux region where it has two dealers, Germany where it has one regional dealer or the Nordic region and Italy where it has no presence.

It will be interesting to see how this partnership develops.