Rondine Group acquires shareholding in Spray Dry

May 02, 2005

02/05/05 -The Rondine Group has announced its acquisition of the majority shareholding of Spray Dry, a Sassuolo-based company that has been operating for almost 30 years in the sector of raw materials for the ceramic industry.
The company produces about 400,000 tons/year of spray-dried bodies for porcelain tile and white body single and double fired tile. In 2004 it reported a turnover of 24 million euro with a cash flow of 12%.

Following the acquisition of the shareholding by the Rondine Group, the company will maintain complete productive and commercial autonomy, as underlined by the confirmation as chairman of Giuseppe Baroni, one of Spray Dry’s founding partners.
The company management is joined by Fabio Ferrari, managing director of Rondine, who will hold the same position at Spray Dry, and Antonio De Marco, formerly Rondine technical director, who will take over as general manager.

The agreement will allow for vertical integration upstream of the production process while creating technical and productive synergies between the two industrial concerns.

Rondine Group closed fiscal 2004 with an EBITDA of more than 15% of turnover while reducing warehouse stock by 11% compared to 2003. Its degree of capitalisation rose from 1.25 in 2003 to 1.40 in 2004. With this new agreement the Rondine Group expects to reach a consolidated turnover of about 70 million euro by the end of 2005.