One Equity Partners acquires stake in Gruppo B&T

The arrival of the US company will support Gruppo B&T’s next phase of expansion. A number of growth opportunities have already been identified.

US private equity firm One Equity Partners (“OEP”) has announced the acquisition of a significant minority stake in Formigine-based Gruppo B&T, a leading global player in the design and manufacture of complete plants, production lines, machinery and consumables for the ceramic and quartz industries.

Founded in 1961 and led by the Tarozzi family, Gruppo B&T serves an international clientele of more than 2,500 manufacturers of ceramics, quartz and other surfaces through its six brands Siti, Ancora, Projecta, Digital Design, Diatex and Mec Abrasives. In total, the Group employs more than 800 people and operates 16 global branches and 10 production facilities worldwide.

“Gruppo B&T delivers comprehensive expertise to an established global customer base in various sectors of the ceramic tile and stone manufacturing industry,” stated Ante Kusurin of One Equity Partners. “Given the favourable growth opportunities in the market, we believe the Group has significant potential for expansion, both organically and through acquisitions.”

Growth in the global ceramic machinery market is driven by favourable market conditions such as urbanisation and the demand for highly efficient and sustainable ceramic products.

“We believe that One Equity Partners is the ideal partner to support Gruppo B&T in the next phase of its expansion,” said Fabio Tarozzi, Chairman and CEO of Gruppo B&T. “It offers invaluable experience in investing and growing manufacturing companies, as demonstrated in other cases within our region. Together with OEP, we have already identified several opportunities for further growth, and its expertise will be a significant asset for us.”

OEP is a spin-off of JP Morgan specialising in the industrial, sanitaryware and technology sectors in North America and Europe. Renowned for its ability to generate long-term value for its partners, OEP has completed over 400 transactions worldwide since it was founded in 2001.

The financial terms of the private transaction have not been disclosed.