Early this year on 8 February, French technology company Lectra surprised fashion, textile, automotive and furniture industries with its announcement of planned acquisition of US-based Gerber Technology.
Lectra has now announced that it has finalised the acquisition of all outstanding shares of Gerber Technology – on a cash-free debt-free basis – for €175 million. This acquisition was approved by Lectra’s Board of Directors on 25 March and by Lectra’s shareholders on 1 June.
The transaction has been financed through a €140 million loan and the Group’s available cash – plus €5 million newly issued Lectra shares to AIPCF VI LG, Gerber Technology’s sole shareholder.
This strategic combination, of which all stages have now been successfully completed, has led to the creation of a leading global Industry 4.0 player for the fashion, automotive and furniture markets.
“The union of our respective innovative expertise, our state-of-the-art offers and our talented resources will enable us to bring long-term value to our customers. We will now be in an even better position to support our customers throughout the world in accelerating the digital transformation of their operations,” commented Daniel Harari, Chairman and CEO of Lectra.
Speaking exclusively with Apparel Resources a couple of months ago, Daniel Harari maintained that the name of the combined company will be Lectra. However, the Gerber Technology trademark will continue to exist via its products, equipment and software.
“As our offers evolve, we will work to gradually unify our products. This will take several years, as we release new generations of products. We will take the time necessary to combine the best technology and expertise of both companies to ensure that our future offers deliver even more value to customers. In a nutshell, we want to expand our potential by finding synergies in the research and development capacities of both companies and by capitalising on current strengths,” told Daniel to Apparel Resources in an interview in March ’21.
