Trasteel, a Swiss leading firm in steel trading and processing, is pleased to announce the successful acquisition of Profilmec Group (“Profilmec”) alongside Profilmec’s longstanding minority shareholder and CEO Walter Talpo, who has reinvested his shares in the transaction. Profilmec was founded in 1961 by Mr. Giuseppe Bottanelli, who passed away in January 2022, and is a leading European manufacturer of steel pipes with applications in a wide range of industries across the continent.
Profilmec is headquartered in Turin and employs over 400 workers. Its main production facilities are two state-of-the-art manufacturing sites in Racconigi (close to Turin) in the North-West of Italy and in Sesto al Reghena (close to Pordenone) in the North-East of the country, representing a total area of 450,000 square meters (out of which 140,000 covered) and a production capacity of 350,000 tons per year. The welded pipes are produced out of pickled and oiled, cold rolled, galvanized and aluminized coils and have applications in the most varied marketable goods sectors, ranging from the automotive, bicycle and motorcycle industries, to home and garden furnishings, as well as camping equipment, nursery items, toys, household goods, radiators, appliances for the building sector, and much more.
The Group is also the owner of ROLM, an engineering company founded in 1973 and specialized in the construction and maintenance of pipe production machineries, together with SIM, a joint-venture with Marcegaglia Group in Teramo.
All current managers and, in general, all employees of Profilmec will retain their roles under the new ownership.
“The entry of Trasteel represents the best guarantee of continuity to the work started back in the 1960s with our founder and longtime Chairman Giuseppe Bottanelli. Trasteel, we believe, will allow our Group to further develop its internationalization. I wish to thank all Trasteel staff, in particular Gianfranco Imperato, Federico Guiducci, Gabriele Nordio and their legal advisors for the professional and punctual cooperation which allowed the deal to be closed” said Walter Talpo, Chairman & CEO of Profilmec.
Gianfranco Imperato, CEO of Trasteel, added: “We are very proud to have gained control of this historical brand of the European steel pipes business. This acquisition fits perfectly into our strategic plan to become a diversified European steel processor and merchant and to bring our overall traded and transformed tonnage to more than 1.5 million tons per year. We would like to express our gratitude to the management of Profilmec, including the CFO Mr. Loris Trevisiol, as well as the Bottanelli family for their availability and open-mindedness.”
The acquisition was financed by a pool of banks comprised of Crédit Agricole Italia, UniCredit, BNL-BNP Paribas and MPS Capital Services in the role of mandate lead arrangers, with Crédit Agricole Italia acting as Loan Agent.
Trasteel was advised on the deal by the law firm Gemma, Provaggi, De Andrè, with Ernst & Young, Studio Cidda Grondona and Studio Bava performing the due diligence.
Walter Talpo was advised by the law firm Elexi and the pool of banks by Simmons & Simmons.