M&;A, supply chain operations continue: Pattern takes over Uvm; Mantero and Ratti allied in Color Como

While the first slowdowns of the big luxury brands after a twenty-year boom are beginning to affect the supply chain, a series of M&A operations continue to be concentrated in the production area with multiple aims: on the one hand to protect the production chain (which in Italy, in the fashion textile sector, is still intact) and on the other to increase its competitiveness on a global scale.

Pattern, a Turin-based group with €145 million in revenues 2023 (+33.1% on 2022) that has been active for almost 25 years in the design, development, prototyping and production of high-end fashion for third-party brands, has announced that it has taken over, through its subsidiary Società Manifattura Tessile (Smt), 100% of Umbria Verde Mattioli (Uvm), a company that has been producing knitwear since 1959 and has a turnover of around 17.8 million euro with a positive Ebitda of around 4.2 million. The transaction, worth 20 million euros, provides for Stm to pay eight million euros to the sellers immediately and, subsequently, three million euros a year on condition that the selling shareholders remain on Uvm's board of directors. The remaining amount, of approximately nine million, will be used by these shareholders to subscribe to a capital increase of Smt and acquire a 10 per cent stake in the company. "Luca Sburlati, CEO of Pattern, together with Franco Martorella and Fulvio Botto, founders and majority shareholders, said: "With this acquisition, we are creating a 'one supply chain' in the knitwear industry that is one of the largest in the luxury segment at an international level, strongly oriented towards three directives: the ability to design and innovate in four absolutely complementary sites; the creation of a single internal industrial platform certified according to EGS principles; and the implementation of technological innovations on the product and semi-finished products in a product category such as knitwear that will undergo very strong evolution in the coming years. To these elements we add the great traditions of Emilia and Umbria - regions where we already have a strong presence - which will guarantee a further element of excellence". With this operation, Pattern, listed from 2019 on the Euronext Growth Milan segment, is going to strengthen and expand the knitwear pole (one of the four pillars together with clothing, leather goods and R&;D) that already counted three companies: SMT, Zanni and Nuova Nicol in Emilia-Romagna..

The protection and competitiveness of the supply chain are at the heart of another transaction announced in recent days: a new alliance between Como-based Ratti and Mantero. The two textile companies, in fact, have each taken over a 20% stake in Color Como, a company specialised in dyeing, scouring and finishing, and a point of reference in the district's textile sector. Founded in 1988 by the Cattaneo family, in 2021 it was taken over by a group of entrepreneurs from Biella, who modernised the management. "We are proud to renew our partnership with Mantero. This agreement reflects our commitment to supporting the textile supply chain, guaranteeing high quality services and new opportunities for recovery," said Sergio Tamborini, Ratti's CEO. "We are convinced that it is essential to adopt tangible actions and projects aimed at preserving the supply chain's operations and at encouraging other similar operations by other players. Aggregations also aim to improve the efficiency of small companies in terms of environmental impact: 'The Como silk district is a jewel of great value and we are proud to invest in this supply chain and in companies where everything revolves around quality through modern and environmentally friendly plants. Color Como is already a reference point in the district today and we count on it being even more so in the future thanks to this new company structure," said Franco Mantero, president of Mantero Seta. The two companies had already formed an alliance to enter into the capital of Foto Azzurra, a company in the district that has been producing supports for screen printing applied to fabrics since 1989.