The Precia Molen Group has announced the ongoing acquisition of Creative IT, whose recurring business accounts for 80% of its revenue. This acquisition will reinforce these results thanks to an operating profit rate well above that of the group.
Precia SA and Creative IT shareholders signed a promise to sell on March 31, 2021, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter for the acquisition of Creative IT. It is envisaged an association of the main managers to the maximum 20% of the capital.
Creative IT publishes Qubes, a software from Manufacturing Execution System (MES).
"Qubes is an innovative software solution for optimizing industrial performance and integrating the technologies of the industry of the future. It is the indispensable link between operators, equipment and the central information system (ERP). (...) This acquisition allows Precia Molen to position itself in the dynamic ESM market and accelerate the development of its software activities around data," said René Colombel, Chairman of the Executive Board.
Many commercial and technical synergies are also identified. Creative IT and Precia Molen have many common industrial customers. Precia Molen's sales teams with more than a hundred commercial technicians around the world will be ambassadors for this new ESM offering. Creative IT will be a strong technical support for Precia Molen in setting up future weighing solutions or new services using the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, augmented reality or virtual reality.
Precia Molen thus enriches its offer with data processing to address customer issues around the monitoring of manufacturing orders, performance, traceability and quality control.
The Precia Molen Group designs, manufactures, sells, installs, maintains and verifies industrial and commercial static weighing instruments and continuous weighing and dosing. These solutions are intended for heavy industry (mines, quarries, steel, energy, environment...) as well as light industry (agri-food, chemistry, transport and logistics...) and also for administrations (posts, local authorities, etc.).
The group generated sales of '135.9 million euros' in 2020, a stable figure compared to the same period in 2019. The contribution from the acquisition of Milviteka UAB at the end of 2019 amounted to 5.5% (over 12 months) with foreign exchange effects of -0.8% and an increase of -4.9% on a like-for-like basis. Milviteka's good operating income (above the group's average level) combined with cost control measures allows the group to record a record level of operating profitability.
While the company's main production subsidiaries in France and India have been impacted by the health crisis, their operations have remained profitable. Service activities have also maintained their level of profitability.
The objectives of the 2016-2020 plan in terms of turnover and operating profit were thus exceeded despite the health crisis. Net income for the 2020 group reached 7.1 million euros (up 12.0%), representing 5.2% of sales, compared with 4.6% in 2019.
The group is anticipating a year 2021 which, according to Precia Molen, should mark a return to growth thanks to the gradual exit of the health crisis and the implementation of various government recovery plans.
Overall, the group's activity increased, particularly in Europe, India and China. All of its plants are operational. For the 2021 financial year, the group aims to achieve a turnover of between 140 and 145 million euros (excluding acquisitions) with an increase in operating profit, even if increases in the price of steel as well as supply difficulties on certain electronic components can disrupt the business.
In addition, service activities in France and abroad are expected to continue to grow, particularly with major national and international accounts.
Creative IT, editor and integrator of the MES Qubes
Publisher and integrator of the manufacturing Execution System (MES) software Qubes, Creative IT is based in Lyon and employs about 40 employees, generates a turnover of 3.2 million euros and an Ebitda of more than 25% in 2020.
Creative IT has developed different versions of Qubes that cater to companies of all sizes, from SMEs to large international groups. Qubes is available in 12 languages and is already deployed in 25 countries abroad.
Created in 1998 the company has installed the Qubes solution with 200 customers and 500 industrial sites worldwide in various sectors ranging from agri-food (Sodiaal, Refresco, Captain Cook, Tipiak, ...) to defense and aeronautics (Nexter, Thales, SEAC, ...) through the manufacturing industry (Hublot, Jaeger Lecoultre...) and life sciences (Biomerieux, Delpharm...).
Visit the sites:
fr.preciamolen.com
www.qubes.com/fr/societe/creative-it
