FFG Europe eyes German ops, bigger share of mould market

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ETMM: Are there any further acquisitions in the pipeline?

Maniglio: Yes, we are looking at a couple of other things in Germany right now, but nothing that is worth mentioning at this point because we have no real information to communicate for the moment, but we are active at this point. We are always interested in the Italian market, but apparently the Italian market is more difficult to develop. Companies are mainly privately owned by the people who still work there, and some of them are doing very well and they have no intention of selling their company. Very few. And then there are those companies that will only knock on your door when they are on the verge of bankruptcy, even if they would need to be in a larger group to experience the same type of synergies that we have. And then it’s another game. We do have a few things open in Italy, but they are really lagging.

ETMM: What are your plans in the tool and mould making sector?

Maniglio: The mould and die sector is one of the areas where we have quite some experience in terms of milling machines [with] Rambaudi, first of all, and also Jobs. That said, we constantly monitor the market. As you know, the market in the past few years has gone through a deep reduction in Europe and an increase in Asia. But that’s one of our key markets. When we talk about general engineering, I would say that mould and die is probably the biggest individual sub-segment to which we address our machines. In tool manufacturing, we actually do have a couple of prospects of taking over companies that are active in that area (machinery for tool manufacturing). We currently don’t have any machines for toolmaking. We’ve got takeover prospects in machine tool manufacturing.

ETMM: Does your company have any specific plans for any of your units and the die and mould industry?

Maniglio: Part of our strategy is to bring Rambaudi up to be the world leader in the mould market.

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FFG Europe eyes German ops, bigger share of mould market