Aksìa Capital V, a fund managed by Aksìa Group SGR S.p.A, through its subsidiary Scarabelli Irrigazione, announces the acquisition of Europlast S.r.l. and FGR S.r.l.-Italian companies active in the design and construction of molds, molding of plastic materials and drippers in particular, and extrusion of drip wings, hoses and tubing for precision irrigation-and of Samcla ESIC SL, an innovative Spanish company that produces monitoring, remote control and automation systems for irrigation systems.
In less than a year, Aksìa completes 4 add-ons to make Scarabelli Irrigation a leading platform in its target industry. The acquisitions of Europlast and FGR are part of the development plan aimed at internalizing in the Scarabelli Group the production of critical and strategic components, such as precisely drip lines and drip wings. The transaction has a strong strategic value because it will allow the Scarabelli Group to control the entire production chain, from mold design to the production of a unique and exclusive product. In addition, the integration of Europlast and FGR will allow for immediate commercial synergies between them, guaranteeing the internalization in the Monopoli plant of the production of own-brand drip wings.
Concomitantly with the closing of the deal, the Scarabelli Group made a major investment in the Monopoli plant to build a new industrial area of over 5,000sqm where production will be transferred by the end of 2023, with the installation of the new production lines capable of tripling the current production capacity.
The acquisition of Samcla, on the other hand, will allow the Scarabelli Group to directly control the engineering and production of remote monitoring and control systems for irrigation systems. Samcla, in fact, has the most sophisticated technologies for control via radio frequency, which in the coming months will be enriched with the introduction of a new product range with Bluetooth technology, thanks also to the expansion at the new site in Matarò (Barcelona). This is a highly strategic operation due to the uniqueness of the proprietary technology that will also enable applications in the digitization of waste management and in the scheduled maintenance of green areas.
The finalized operations will accelerate the development of international markets for the Scarabelli Group, which closed 2022 with a turnover of 50 million euros. In line with the project of expansion on an international scale designed by the Aksìa, a commercial branch of the Group has been activated in Chile, the first step of development in Central and South America. In addition, the French commercial team will be strengthened during the year with important new entries, with a particular focus on precision products. As for Spain, the Group will benefit from the support of local partners: Samcla founders Jordi Samon Castella and Manel Claus March, who have decided to reinvest in the project while maintaining a minority stake in the company. Their knowledge of the Spanish market will, in fact, facilitate business development throughout the Iberian Peninsula.
Gian Carlo Scarabelli and Fausto Scarabelli, CEOs of Scarabelli commented, “With these acquisitions, our Group is strengthened in two verticals that we had identified as priority and critical. With Europlast and FGR, we are able to gain direct control and the flexibility to manage higher volumes in our portfolio, while being able to provide unique products to our customers. It is to meet their needs that we have made a major investment to expand the plant, which projects us into the next season with a tripled production capacity. We are also confident of the many collaborations and synergies that will be created with the integration of the different realities, including Samcla, whose product we already know well as we have been its exclusive distributors for Italy for years. But having brought all this know-how in-house puts us on a far higher cutting-edge level and allows us to approach the market as absolute market leaders. We will go after the complex and sophisticated projects that are well suited to our expertise.”
Also in the words of Marco Rayneri, Managing Partner of Aksìa Group, there is great satisfaction with the successful operations and development of the Group: “We have already completed four add-ons on the platform in less than a year. A clear strategy, dynamic management, and a rapidly expanding market are behind the excellent results we are reaping for Scarabelli. The growth project launched is bringing innovation and dynamism to the industry, and there are several entrepreneurs who have contacted us to join the platform. We are therefore very attentive to market dynamics and we expect that the Group can soon reach the 100 million euro turnover threshold: we already have other interesting aggregation opportunities we are working on, more than 20 million euros of orders on the credit side and a strongly expanding revenue curve.”