It is one of the sectors that has best resisted the wave of the pandemic and now the furniture industry is once again moving also in terms of acquisitions. Only two in the last week: the Colombini group that took 60% of Bontempi Casa, now to announce a new operation was the Friulian Calligaris group, which took over 100% of the Dutch company Fatboy, a company controlled by the Vendis fund Capital, well rooted in Northern Europe, with a turnover of over 50 million euros and a very high profitability.
It is the first foreign company to join the Calligaris stable, a 142 million euro group controlled by the Alpha fund, which already includes the Calligaris, Connubia, Ditre Italia and Luceplan brands. «This acquisition brings many new elements and accelerates our growth path – the CEO of Calligaris Group, Stefano Rosa Uliana, explains to Sole 24 Ore. First of all from the point of view of digitization and in particular of e-commerce, given that Fatboy generates over 50% of its turnover through the web and largely through its website ».
Loading…
Not only that: half of the Dutch company’s sales concern outdoor collections, and this completes the offer of the Friulian group. Furthermore, he brings to the group an advanced experience in terms of organization and managerialization, which fits well into the development and transformation process started by Calligaris three years ago. Fatboy is a dynamic reality, with a young and iconic catalog, and a good economic-financial solidity: “We have done a great job with Vendis Capital over the last four and a half years – says Petra Vos, CEO of the company, who will remain in his assignment -. We have been able to increase sales and profits, grow the brand and at the same time strengthen our organization and ways of working. The partnership with Calligaris will help us to continue our journey ». In fact, Fatboy will benefit from the widespread international commercial network and the reputation of the Calligaris group, which exports 70% of its production and has a direct presence in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, the United States and Japan.
In 2020, the Friulian group achieved a turnover of around 142 million euros (down 12% compared to 2019 due to the impact of Covid, especially on the contract sector) and 26 million Ebitda (+ 6% compared to 2019). With the integration of Fatboy Uliana estimates that the group can close the year around 220 million euros in turnover. «2021 is going very well – explains Uliana -. It is too early to make forecasts, but the growth is also remarkable compared to 2019 ».
The CEO is satisfied with this operation, which will help accelerate the innovation processes already started in terms of governance and managerialization. But the growth of the group does not stop there: all the dossiers already under study remain on the table. “Now we have to digest this operation, but we keep looking around, the market is on the move and there are some sectors we want to enter, such as technical lighting and the world of systems”.