An agreement finally seems to have been reached for the transfer, by the Brazilian company Romi, of its Sandretto plant in Pont Canavese (near Turin), together with its entire workforce (which until now has also worked at the Grugliasco facilities). The purchaser is newco Scout One, which is controlled by the French company Photonike (listed on the Paris Stock Exchange and active in the renewable energy sector) and by four Italian companies, all of which under the lead of former commissioner Massimo Postiglione, and two of which are said to operate in the plastics industry. The value of the deal has not yet been disclosed, but it probably amounts to around seven million euros. The new owners are thought to have undertaken to absorb the company's entire workforce, putting in place three years of redundancy provisions, the first year to cope with the economic crisis and the other two for restructuring purposes.
This is what emerged yesterday at a press conference held by the Piedmont Regional Administration, which also saw the participation of Fiom. "The first twenty workers", explained Vittorio De Martino, Fiom regional secretary, "should be reinstated in the next few days to restart the plants". This operation was made possible thanks to the decisive role played by the Piedmont Regional Administration, which, through its financial partner Finpiemonte, had purchased the Sandretto brand in order to keep production in the Piedmont area, and will transfer it, under a free licence agreement, to the purchasers. The latter should present their business plan within the next month and, according to information leaked in advance, may give newco  a new name, i.e. Sandretto or Sandretto Industrie, as a means of relaunching this historical brand.