08.11.2022

CMC acquired

Italian private equity firm Metrika SGR has acquired a 70 percent majority stake in Italian spider lift manufacturer CMC.

It seems that the deal was concluded in late October but only announced this morning. Metrika states that its aim “is to create added value for investors and stakeholders and aims to be an ideal partner for Italian Small to Medium Enterprises that want to manage generational transitions and development projects with proactivity and vision.”

The statement adds that the capital injection will allow CMC to implement several new development programmes, including the expansion of its 12,000 square metre production facility with new production lines, the expansion of the current product range including new models, and the strengthening of its presence in overseas markets.”

It also says that it will implement “a targeted acquisition policy to speed up the expansion of production capacity to meet the growing number of orders from the market.“

The founding Mastrogiacomo and Moretti families will remain as main board directors, with Alessandro Mastrogiacomo as chief executive and Giuseppe Moretti as chief operating officer.

Speaking of the development Alessandro Mastrogiacomo said: "Those who design machines like our spider platforms know this very well: the higher you want to go, the more solid and stable the base on which you stand must be. With this operation, CMC confirms itself as a leading company not only in terms of production, but also from a managerial perspective. Today we are preparing for a real leap in category that will allow us to definitively adapt the level of our organisation to the quality of our products."

Metrika SGR is based in Milan and operates two main funds: The Metrika Fund - which CMC is now a part - led by founder and chief executive Marco Giuseppini. Its current investments include chemical company Allegrini, production line machinery company Robor and heat treatment specialist Proterm. The second fund - Metrika Tech Fund - is led by Alessandro Cozzi which covers businesses involved in cyber security etc….

CMC was established in the city of Bari in Southern Italy in 1992 by Michele Moretti and Carlo Mastrogiacomo. While the company had its fair share of ‘ups and downs’ during the first half of its 30 years in business, the second half has seen it go from strength to strength to become one of the top two manufacturers of spider lifts worldwide, and possibly the fastest growing. It currently sells its platforms in 30 different countries.

Note: This is the second such deal in the past two months, In September Wisequity V fund acquired a majority stake in Almac.

Vertikal Comment

It is always sad to see the ownership of a family company switch from the family to an outside owner, especially a private equity owner. However, family ownership is not always what it is ‘cracked up to be’, especially where two families are involved, further complicated by second or even third generations of each family, leading to a multiplicity of owners or related influencers, many of whom will have their own ideas on how the company should be run or profits spent. That may not be the case at CMC, but few companies manage to completely avoid such developments.

In this case the new ‘owners’ do seem, at least on the surface, to be one of the good private equity owners that is interested in the long term growth of their investment and the creation of a market leading global business. If the relationship between CMC senior managers and the key people at Metrika is good, and they have the same aims, this could be very positive move.

Let’s hope that it is so.