[February 25, 2019]

SECO Acquires the Majority of Fannal Electronics

SECO (News - Alert) SpA (Arezzo), a high-tech manufacturer of computer miniaturization and "ready-to-use" integrated systems, with shareholder FII Tech Growth fund backed by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, is pleased to announce that today it has signed an agreement to acquire the majority of Fannal Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of Human Machine Interaction technologies based in Hangzhou (China).

Fannal Electronics, founded in 2011 to address the fast-growing sector of advanced touch screen technologies, evolved into a reputable high tech player, known for the quality of its products and excellent technical support.

The transaction has a strategic value for the SECO group, as it strengthens its R&D and production capabilities with the addition of more than 60 highly specialized professionals, and it increases the competitiveness of a company that represents an Italian excellence, boosted by the financial instruments made available by the CDP Group.

In April 2018, FII Tech Growth, a fund promoted by CDP and managed by Fondo Italiano d'Investimento SGR, invested €10 million in SECO to accelerate its expansion and internationalization.

Lesen Ding, Fannal's founder, will retain a minority share and continue to guide the company as its General Manager and CEO. Following the investment, Ivan Brambilla, a Sales and Industrial Operations executive with previous experiences at leading companies like Magneti Marelli, Toshiba and 3M (News - Alert), will serve on the Fannal Board of Directors and will be responsible for its commercial expansion in the European market.

"With this transaction, we invest in a worldwide leading company operating in the highly specialized sector of touch display technology, which is becoming an essential component of our systems - stated Massimo Mauri, SECO executive director - SECO plans to heavily invest in Fannal with the aim to enhance its supply chain effectiveness and build a platform to access the growing Chinese market".

"We are very happy o tighten the relationship with our long standing partner SECO to further accelerate our growth" - said Fannal CEO Lesen Ding. "We see this combination as the beginning of a very successful partnership. We can share SECO's reputation, reach and customer proximity, while SECO can have access to Fannal's strong technical skills, competitive pricing and supply chain resources".

Deloitte (News - Alert) Financial Advisory and Deloitte Legal have respectively acted as financial and legal advisors.

* * *

About SECO
SECO is an Italian group with a leading global position in the sector of embedded technology and Internet of Things (IoT). Since 1979, it has been designing and producing embedded systems - industrial computers that are integrated into a client's machine or tool, activating its functions and permitting interaction through touch/video interfaces.
SECO collaborates with a broad network of strategic suppliers in the international high-tech panorama (including Intel (News - Alert)®, AMD, NXP, NVIDIA®, Wind, and Telenor), as well as with universities, research centres and innovative start-ups, and operates on a global scale with offices in Italy, Germany, the U.S., India and Taiwan, employing more than 300 people.
The industrial sectors in which SECO products are utilized range from biomedicine to wellness, industrial automation to transportation, and it has clients that are market leaders, such as Cimbali, Esaote, Evoca, and Technogym.
For more information: www.seco.com

About Fannal
Fannal Electronics Co., Ltd. was founded in 2011 with the goal of developing and producing cutting-edge touch technology for the industrial market.
The company is a market leader in the design of high-end touch display custom solutions. Quality, high-precision and reliability are guaranteed by the internal control of all manufacturing processes.
Fannal Electronics is widely known for its world leading technical expertise and customer support, with an international presence and consolidated customer relationships worldwide.
For more information: www.Fannal.com

About FII Tech Growth
FII Tech Growth, with a fundraising target of €150 million, is the first Italian late-stage technology investment equity fund. It is managed by Fondo Italiano d'Investimento SGR and is dedicated to invest in the growth of small and medium-sized Italian compnies with high-tech business models. The fund announced its first closing in September 2017 with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti as cornerstone investor. Fondo Italiano d'Investimento SGR currently manages a total of eight investment funds, dedicated to institutional investors, for a total of about Euro 3 billion of Assets Under Management.
For more information: www.fondoitaliano.it

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190225005087/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]