Summa acquires flatbed cutter manufacturer Valiani

Summa acquires Valiani to strengthen its position as the leading manufacturer of print finishing equipment. The merged business will continue as before and will complement each other to offer customers an even broader range of cutting solutions.

Valiani, with its headquarters in Certaldo, Florence, Italy, is a developer and manufacturer of small to medium-sized, highly reliable flatbed cutters with a worldwide distribution network. Moreover, Valiani has an extensive history in the picture framing industry and is a pioneer in converting this market to digital solutions: designing and cutting matboard and offering passepartout tools for bevel cuts. Their innovative approach has ensured the company grew into other markets as well. The recent Omnia auto-feed die-cutting machine is a unique automated solution for the corrugated and folding carton market. In contrast, the brand new Integra offers an appealing finishing product for the Sign & Display market.

Nico Valiani, CEO and son of Franco, founder of the company, is enthusiastic: “In the recent years, we have renewed our complete portfolio with a wider range of solutions. Now, this is starting to pay off with significant growth. However, I know there is still a lot more potential. Therefore, my family and I are convinced that being part of the Summa group will accelerate our growth and give our customers much more possibilities. We are staying true to our values, customer-focused and offering high-quality solutions”. To put the money where the mouth is, the Valiani family is reinvesting in the Summa Group.

“Since the negotiations started, my appreciation for the Valiani company and its products has grown more and more”, said Geert Pierloot, Managing Director at Summa. “The organisation with Lean manufacturing production lines in the Certaldo, ISO certified, plant is a true example for the industry. I look forward to working together with Nico and his team. In this merger, I see an absolute win-win as it combines the strengths of both companies. While we can help accelerating Valiani’s growth, our portfolio can be expanded with the solutions of Valiani and more markets can be served”.

“Our product ranges are extremely complementary”, adds Christof Van Driessche, Chief Commercial Officer at Summa. “Although the most popular and attractively priced Summa F1612 flatbed table has a small and unique footprint, there are still a lot of customers looking at smaller, more affordable but reliable solutions. Therefore, the merger is an exciting step and meets Summa’s ambition to increase its presence in other markets and strengthen our position into the packaging market”.

Both companies will continue to operate under their current company names and with the actual management teams in place.