Italcer acquires Equipe Cerámicas

With its seventh acquisition in just over three years, Italcer has created a 220 million euro European hub with an expected EBITDA of over 22%.

Italcer, the Italian group led by Graziano Verdi, has acquired Equipe Cerámicas of Figueroles (Castellón), a leading company in the small size floor and wall tile market. For the Rubiera-based group, formed in 2017 and majority owned by the Mandarin Capital Partners (MCP) fund, this is the first acquisition outside Italy and the seventh in just over three years, following those of Ceramica Rondine, La Fabbrica Ceramiche, AVA, Elios Ceramica, Cedir and Devon&Devon.

Equipe Cerámicas was founded in 1999, and since 2018 has enjoyed the backing of the Miura Fund, which has supported it in its growth and development plan and helped it double its sales and production capacity. Amongst other things, this positive performance has propelled the company to second place in the MECS ranking of the 280 top world ceramic tile manufacturers in terms of economic and financial performance based on its 2019 financial statements (“Economic & financial analysis of world ceramic tile manufacturers”, MECS). Equipe employs around 200 people and its products are sold worldwide, mostly in Europe and the United States.

The acquisition of Equipe not only enables Italcer to become an international player but will also lead to the creation of a major group in the European ceramic tile market with high-end products and complementary brands in Italy and Spain. These include small size wall tiles, a segment that is seeing double-digit growth in global markets.

“Thanks to the acquisition of Equipe, we are strengthening our best practices and combining Equipe’s production flexibility with Italcer’s quality,” said Graziano Verdi, CEO of Italcer Group. “Today Italcer is a major global player in the ceramic industry in terms of innovation, development, sustainability and its unique management team. This operation enables us to move forward with our growth plans that began in 2017, demonstrating that a strategy of expansion through acquisitions is a unique opportunity in such a fragmented industry. As a result, our group has progressed from a turnover of 60 million euros and EBITDA of 12 million euros in 2017 to an expected turnover of more than 220 million euros and EBITDA of 50 million euros in 2021.”

Another new aspect of the operation is the fact that the Miura has acquired a stake in Italcer alongside the majority investor MCP. The two shareholders have already stated that they will “continue to examine further opportunities for growth and development”.

As in the case of the previous acquisitions, Equipe Cerámicas will continue its activities and maintain its workforce under the leadership of the current CEO, Rogelio Vila, while Graziano Verdi will lead the group as CEO.

The Italcer Group currently employs 570 people and is expected to achieve an output in excess of 15 million square metres this year. It works with over 3,000 distributors worldwide. The target for 2024 is a turnover of 300 million euros and an EBITDA of 70 million. In the three-year period 2021-2023, the group expects to invest a further 10 million euros per year on top of the more than 25 million euros already invested in Industry 4.0 technologies in recent years.