Romi announces first acquisition abroad
Gazeta Mercantil - 05/19/2008
On Friday, Indústrias Romi, one of the biggest manufacturers of machinery and equipment of the Country, announced that had closed an agreement to acquire the assets of the Italian Sandretto Industrie, producer of injection machines with subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Spain, and France, besides its two units in the region of Turim. In debt, the company was liquidated by the Italian government as a means of economic recovery. Romi may buy all its assets at auction for € 5.5 million - what includes the facilities installed in the five countries, as well as equipment, technology and trademarks, and trades and patents of Sandretto. The purchaser has also promised to hire the 295 Italian company's employees and invest another € 8 million in the company in the next two years. That represents a total of € 14.5 million, or R$ 34.6 million. The currently Sandretto's stock is not included and may be purchased by Romi at market value. Besides being the largest acquisition investment of Romi, it is also its first purchase abroad. Romi is the owner of a complex of nine plants in the city of Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, whose activities began in 1930. And it is from this centralized production in the interior of São Paulo that come the Romi's machines to supply the industries all over Brazil and 50 countries abroad. With the purchase of the assets of Sandretto - that still depends on approval at a shareholders meeting, scheduled for the beginning of June -, Romi acquires its first manufacturing units abroad so as to complement the international performance. Currently, Romi has commercial branch offices in Germany and in the United States.