Sacmi takes full control as Negri Bossi goes private

Italian injection moulding machine maker Negri Bossi is finally going fully private again. After months of trying, HPS, the holding company of its parent Sacmi Group, has succeeded in acquiring 95% of its share capital. This gives HPS the right to acquire all outstanding shares.

In a statement issued at the end of last week, Sacmi said that Negri Bossi will be removed from the Milan stock exchange this coming Friday (15 May).

The way is now open for Sacmi to carry out a full restructuring at Negri Bossi that will involve further integration into the parent – something it was unable to do while Negri Bossi was still a quoted company.

Negri Bossi has urgent need for more cost-cutting measures. Last year it made a loss of €13.2m on sales of €97.8m, almost a quarter down on 2007. Its debt of €78.7m was up by a quarter.

Sacmi bought a majority shareholding in Negri Bossi in early 2002, only a few weeks after Negri Bossi debuted on the Milan stock exchange. The group already had interests in the plastics industry through its high-speed compression moulding machines used to make bottle caps, and also through downstream packaging equipment. However, Sacmi, which is a cooperative, makes most of its money in sales equipment for the ceramics industry.