Sixteen months after entering an industrial partnership with US-based Mohawk Fine Papers, Fedrigoni has acquired ‘certain assets’ of the former’s business, enabling it to strengthen its distribution of speciality fine papers in the North American market.
Fedrigoni reports that the transaction was finalised in late February 2024 through a NewCo incorporated by Fedrigoni to acquire Mohawk’s assets in a sale process initiated by a financial institution, following a period of significant financial distress that affected Mohawk in recent months. The transaction entirely cleared the new company from existing indebtedness, allowing it to preserve the majority of existing jobs, industrial activities and customer relationships.
Founded in 1931, Mohawk is a family-owned company that produces well-known speciality papers for designers, brands and printers and which has ‘strongly innovated’ in the fields of digital printing and sustainability. Shared of core values ‘such as solid know-how and a focus on innovation and environmental impact reduction’ led to the acquisition of the firm, which has become part of the Fedrigoni Special Papers division and represents an important aspect of the group’s overseas growth strategy.
‘We will now be able to produce and distribute to customers a wide range of Fedrigoni high value-added papers directly in North America, and expand access to Mohawk speciality papers internationally,’ said Marco Nespolo, CEO at Fedrigoni Group.
The acquisition is Fedrigoni’s third this year, following SharpEnd in the UK and Arjowiggins China. Mr Nespolo further commented, ‘We will thus increasingly support the strategies of our customers who favour near-shoring models in place of the traditional global purchasing-oriented approach, to reduce their environmental impact and minimise the risks of supply chain disruption’.
