October 16, 2020

Metalogalva in Trofa buys French Petitjean from Saudi group – Jornal de Negócios

The metalworking company, part of the Vigent Group, which also owns Brasmar, has closed the acquisition of the company based in Troyes, with an industrial area of 30 hectares, a turnover of 49 million euros and 350 employees.

This Thursday, October 15, Metalogalva announced the acquisition of 49% of the French company Petitjean, which operates in the areas of public lighting, tubular structures for transportation, energy distribution and telecommunications, with the Portuguese metalworking company holding an option to buy the remaining 51%.

Refusing to reveal to Negócios the amounts involved in this operation which aims to “strengthen its international vocation”, the company dedicated to steel engineering and protection signed the agreement with the Saudi group Al-Babtain, which in 2012 had bought this company which operates mainly in French-speaking markets and in which it invested close to 60 million euros, according to reports in the French press.

Founded in 1959 by Daniel Petitjean, the company based in Troyes, where it has an industrial area of 30 hectares, had a turnover of 49.1 million euros in 2019 and employs around 350 people. Metalogalva promises to “maintain the current management” and indicates that “the strategy will be to maintain the brands, due to the recognition of both in Europe, seeking cooperation between the different departments, in a logic of complementarity”.

“We’re very pleased with this acquisition, which will increase Metalogalva’s market share in France to a consolidated value of 43 million euros. It’s a very important strategic investment, which will allow us to improve the entire supply chain and develop important synergies in terms of research and development,” summarizes Sérgio Silva, CEO of Vigent Group and also owner of Brasmar (frozen seafood), which in 2019 extended its tentacles into Spain.

This is a very important strategic investment, which will allow us to improve the entire supply chain and develop important synergies in terms of research and development.
Sérgio Silva, CEO of Vigent Group.

Metalogalva, which with this acquisition expects to have a consolidated turnover of 150 million euros by 2020, was founded in 1971 by brothers Adelino and Joaquim Silva. It employs more than 650 people at its five national plants in Trofa, Vila do Conde and Albergaria-a-Velha and is currently present in 14 countries: Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Poland, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Algeria, Ukraine, Senegal, Canada, Mozambique, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, where two years ago it set up a factory producing metal structures for renewable energy projects.

At European level, it is one of the main players in the production of street lighting columns and other structures linked to areas such as energy transport, renewables, telecommunications, roads, railroads and hot-dip galvanizing. “Pushed” into internationalization during the last crisis – its debut, at the beginning of this decade, was precisely in France, where until now it had a commercial delegation – the items it manufactures and which are most seen by the Portuguese are street lighting columns and poles for REN and EDP.