14 Apr BABAN LAUNCHES THE AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY HUB IN VENETO: AFTER TREVISAN AND AGRIMEC, OFFICINE MINUTE WAS ALSO TAKEN OVER
The entrepreneur: “We have purchased a company with almost 70 years of history, to bring about commercial, managerial and product innovation”.
Mestre, 24 February 2019 – Three companies, a turnover of about 20 million euros and the goal of reaching 50 million euros within a year: a new agricultural machinery hub is born in Veneto. The drive came from the entrepreneur Alberto Baban, who, together with his partner Marco Trevisan, finalised the acquisition of Officine Minute on 19th February. Officine Minute is a company based in Villorba (Treviso) specialized in the production of grain dryers, with a turnover of 9 million euros, about 80% of which derives from the foreign market, and with about 20 employees. Officine Minute manufactures and distributes fixed dryers with modular structures under the Strahl brand name; these can reach a height of 30 metres and dry up to 20 thousand quintals of grains per day.
A sector that is complementary to the one in which another company taken over by Baban and Trevisan in 2019 is active: that is, Agrimec in Grisignano di Zocco (Vicenza) which manufactures various types of small-size mobile dryers. Trevisan Srl in Massanzago (Padua), a company operating in the field of heat treatments for metals, is the third member of the group. Now the two partners aim to create a synergy between the three companies with regard to the commercial, managerial and know-how aspects, as wells as to expand the pole with two new acquisitions. However, what triggered Baban’s interest in the agritech world was the sole acquisition in 2017 of the management of Maschio Aratri di Concordia Sagittaria (Venice).
“We are now working to consolidate this newly-born group”, explains Alberto Baban, former president of the Small business section of Confindustria (the Confederation of Italian Industries) and still president of VeNetWork. “We are considering the acquisition of another two companies, with the aim of merging them and integrating them into a group which will generate a turnover of at least 50 million euros within a year. Let’s start from the extensive experience of three companies with similar histories: almost seventy years of history, a generational transition and the common goal of entrepreneurs who want to see their company continue to grow stronger in their market. We will bring commercial, managerial and product innovation to these companies, thanks to the metallurgical and engineering skills of Trevisan Srl”.
“Very important business synergies can be developed between Agrimec and Officine Minute, because their products are of a similar type and the markets in which they operate are complementary”, explains Marco Trevisan, who worked in the marketing division for the Porsche group and other multinational groups. “Both of them already export about 80% of their production, and there is great enthusiasm regarding their expansion into new markets. We will work to consolidate our well-established presence in Europe and also towards entering the North American, Asian and African markets”.
Officine Minute, founded in 1952, is today one of the most important companies in Europe in the sector of fixed grain dryers, and has always achieved excellent results, particularly in the last 20 years.
“I am convinced”, says Gianni Minute “that Alberto Baban’s idea of merging different companies in this sector will allow us not only to face the national and international market with greater effectiveness and permeability, with mutual benefits, but also to overcome the problems due to the small size of each company”.
