PERSPECTIVE by Phil Matten, executive editor, Fastener + Fixing Magazine

Phil Matten reflects on some of the key topics currently involving the fastener industry

As you’ll already have seen the News pages are literally peppered with acquisition stories. There have been some remarkable shifts in the global fastener landscape over the last few weeks – a couple arguably on a tectonic scale.

I

visited Trifast a couple of days before we went to press and was fortunate to be able to spend some time with Carlo Perini, the managing director of TR’s latest acquisition, Viterie Italia Centrale (VIC). When the acquisition was announced it looked to be a particularly astute move for Trifast and my brief discussion with Carlo served only to further reinforce that impression. Our news report covers Trifast’s thoughts on the strategic value of acquiring VIC, which TR Europe managing director, Geoff Budd, enthusiastically reinforced during my visit. Talking with Carlo one could see very clearly how becoming part of the TR network will expand VIC’s opportunities to develop. Conversely there is no question about the expertise and capability the Italian company is bringing to the party. One comment from Carlo epitomised the mutual value of the deal: “Our cultures are very similar, our competences are complimentary.” There was evidently genuine excitement about the prospects and huge personal confidence in how the new relationship will benefit a business, which of course has grown up since 1963 as a family concern – confidence reflected, he shared with me, in his decision to take a significant personal shareholding in Trifast. I’m hoping it won’t be too long before we take up Carlo’s invitation to visit the plant and look in real detail at VIC’s capabilities and also some of the clearly very innovative approaches to working with its customers. There was a stark contrast between the Trifast story and the news that emerged from Turkey’s Norm Group about its acquisition of Derk SpA. Whereas Trifast is clearly committed to not just maintaining but developing VIC’s manufacturing capabilities in Fabriano – substantial investment I am told is already in the pipeline – Norm tell us it has virtually completed the absorption of all of Derk’s production equipment into its new plant in Salihli, Turkey, adding around 5,000 tonnes new capacity to the Group’s already substantial capabilities. Norm is clear that it has acquired substantial technology and know-how. It’s also confident that it is already working closely with former Derk clients to ensure continuity of supply. The relationship between acquirer and acquired is clearly going to be of very significant interest to the stakeholders in both PMC’s acquisition of Nedschroef and Fontana’s acquisition of Acument Global Technologies. Not surprisingly there were immediate hints of disquiet over Chinese ownership of a strategic supplier to major European OEMs and it’s clear from Nedschroef and PMC statements that the management was alert from the beginning about the need to assuage doubts over this score. That’s not going to be easy, one suspects, and will take some time. Of course, it’s not just going to be about what happens in Europe, the deal offers some fascinating scenarios for Nedchroef’s development in China, where Chinese ownership surely will represent a massive ‘edge’. The assimilation of Acument into Fontana’s global strategy looks somewhat more straightforward; although my

guess is when I am in the States shortly I’ll still hear some concerns about European ownership of a major US fastener supplier. As always, I’ll let you know.

Buy, buy – Captain!

Lederer’s Maritime Assortment. Maritimes Sortiment von Lederer.

www.lederer-online.com