Sepro Group buys majority stake in Garbe Automatisme
Canadian Plastics
Robots & AutomationFrance-based Garbe makes multi-step automation systems for injection molders that serve the automotive, medical, packaging, household-appliance, and other industries.
In a move designed to bolster its position as an automation supplier for injection molders, La Roche sur Yon, France-based Sepro Group has acquired a majority stake in Garbe Automatisme, which is also based in France.
The transaction was completed at the end of July, but announced on Sept. 28.
The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Sepro, said to be one of the largest suppliers of automation solutions for injection molding machines, will double its automation capacity in France and increase its global capacity by 20 per cent, company officials said in a Sept. 28 news release. Garbe operates a 900 square meter facility.
“This acquisition energizes our Group,” Sepro Group president Eric Radat said. “It confirms our commitment to supporting our customers with intelligent, highly efficient automation solutions.”
Headquartered in Izernore, in the so-called “Plastics Valley” near Oyonnax in eastern France, Garbe makes multi-step automation systems for injection molders that serve the automotive, medical, packaging, household-appliance, and other industries. According to Sepro, Garbe has successfully integrated 3-, 5- and 6-axis robots into manufacturing cells that require not only part removal, but pre-mold and post-mold operations like insert loading, component assembly, marking, inspection, conveying, palletizing, and more.
Dominique Garbe, who founded Garbe in 1997, will continue to lead the company, which will retain “a high degree of autonomy” within Sepro Group, the news release said.
“Our customers need more than ever to accelerate their transformation and automate their production lines to increase productivity, and we are seeing a steady increase in demand for increasingly sophisticated automation applications,” Sepro Group CEO Charles de Forges said. “Dominique Garbe and the Garbe Automatisme team shares our ambition to make automation ever more accessible to customers around the world. Our association was an easy decision and we are happy that they trusted us.”
