Gimatic

Manufacturer of end-of-arm-tools (EOAT) for industrial automation applications

Deal Facts

AGIC acquired a majority stake of Gimatic in April 2016 with minority re-investment from the founder & CEO and the previous private equity fund
Exited to US-listed Barnes Group in October 2018

Founded in 1985, Gimatic is a leading and fast-growing global player in developing, manufacturing and supplying of automation components / robotic accessories and application specific EOAT solutions
The company provides a complete offering of pneumatic gripper solutions, mechatronic gripper solutions, and various sensors for automation and grippers
Gimatic relies on a well-organized, highly reliable network of 20 sister companies and multiple distributors enabling customer proximity and allowing to build specific solution for the given need

Industrial automation in general and gripping, lifting and manipulating solutions are key drivers for productivity increases in a large number of industries and enjoy strong secular growth globally
Benefiting from significant growth in material handling applications across different end markets
Substantial growth opportunities in the Asian markets, in particular in the strongly growing Chinese market where Gimatic’s presence was nascent at AGIC’s entry
Limited exposure to industrial cycle risks due to mission-critical nature of components resulting in high customer lock-in and large share of repeat revenue streams

AGIC developed and implemented a go-direct transformation for Gimatic in China, Japan, S. Korea and India, guiding and supporting it in building a direct sales force and greatly expanding its coverage and after-sales service
Supported management in setting up new sales & service subsidiaries as well as engineering competence centres in Europe and Asia, and rolling out ERP and CRM systems globally
Evaluated several potential M&A opportunities across the U.S., Europe and Asia and supported the acquisition of supplier in Italy and of minority interest of existing subsidiaries