Gefran acquires the Swiss Sensormate

The Italian company Gefran has announced it has reached an agreement for the 100% takeover of Sensormate, a Swiss company specialised in the design, development and sale of industrial sensors. The agreement has been signed on June 26 by the managing director Alfredo Sala and is expected to be finalized by the end of July.
The acquired company designs and manufactures high-precision load-cells for injection moulding, for which it holds numerous registered patents, and in 2012 recorded a turnover of around 1.5 million euro. The agreement stipulates an overall price of 4.2 million Swiss francs (equal to about 3.4 million euro). This amount will be paid in three instalments: the first of 3.6 million Swiss francs on the closing date; the second and third respectively three and five years after the signing date.
Injection moulding machines represents one of the main markets for Gefransensors and, thanks to the technology of Sensormate products, the Italian company will acquire a unique competitive edge in the industry, characterized by the increasing importance of electrically driven machines, where this kind of sensors is a fundamental component.
"This is a strategic takeover in terms of technology for the sensor business. We'll soon be including Sensormate products in the Gefran catalogue and via the sales network we'll be able to increase sales all over the world. A knowledge of the customers and the strength of the Gefran brand in this market point to a rapid increase in business. This operation will only contribute marginally to group revenues in 2013, but it will multiply its effects in coming years, after we've optimised both engineering and production processes at our plants in Provaglio d'Iseo", stated Alfredo Sala.