Nuovafima invests in Surface Inspection

Jan 09, 2006

09/01/06 - Nuovafima, a manufacturer of automatic machinery for the ceramic industry taken over at the end of September by the Dutch investment fund Favonius Ventures, recently acquired the majority shareholding in Surface Inspection, a market leader in the field of automatic inspection systems with more than 400 units installed to date worldwide.
The action is part of the strategic investment plan announced by Nuovafima about three months ago with the objective of reaching a turnover of 50 million euro within three years.

The two companies will develop strong synergies while remaining two separate entities.
The technological objective of the operation is to offer the market the most powerful visual inspection system by combining Surface Inspection’s technologies with the Integrale automatic inspection system from Nuovafima.
From a commercial standpoint, it will allow Surface Inspection to make use of Nuovafima’s extensive sales network to distribute its systems worldwide.

According to Nuovafima’s business development director Brent Dennison, the new investment confirms the intention announced 3 months ago by Favonius Ventures to grow rapidly in the ceramic market through the acquisition of companies capable of supplying leading technologies.
“The investment in Surface Inspection is not limited to bolstering Nuovafima’s offerings in the automation sector,” explains Dennison. “Rather, it is a clear message that the company is investing and will continue to improve its offerings for customers.”

Nuovafima, founded in 1977 in Spezzano di Fiorano (province of Modena), specialises in the production of tile sorting lines. It has two branches and 120 employees and has installed more than 3,000 systems worldwide for the leading companies in the ceramic sector. In 2005 it reported a turnover of 30 million euro.

Surface Inspection was set up in Bristol, UK in 1987. Since 1996 it has exclusively been producing automatic tile sorting systems. It has sales and technical support branches in Italy (Formigine) and Spain (Vila Real, Castellón). It has a total workforce of 60 people and generates an annual turnover of about 9 million euro.