With the acquisition of Tramo SA, Nippon Express Group consolidates its service offering in the lifestyle sector by maintaining Tramo brand as a guarantee of excellence in service for the delivery of high-end designer furniture.
Tramo Group will be able to develop its activities as a specialist serving the most important Italian and international manufacturers of design and furnishing accessories and to operate in the main Asian markets, including Japan, China and South Korea.
Chiasso (CH), 2 November 2023 – Tramo Group, an international leader in the transportation of luxury goods, designer furniture and high-end furnishings – with consolidated revenues of more than EUR 117 million in 2022 and an EBITDA of more than EUR 17 million – announces the finalization of the acquisition of Tramo SA holding company and of its 17 subsidiaries by Nippon Express Group, a leading international logistics operator providing complete solutions for land, sea and air transport. The Japanese Group – which employs more than 73,000 people in 49 countries – is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, has a market capitalization of more than EUR 4.8 billion and, in 2022, generated consolidated revenues of more than EUR 19 billion and recorded a profit of more than EUR 1 billion.
The share purchase for Nippon Express Italia S.p.A. was concluded on 31 October for 100% of the capital of Tramo SA and 100% of the capital of its 17 operating subsidiaries in Europe and in the United States. Thanks to the sale, Nippon Express Group will acquire know-how in the delivery of high-end designer furniture, thus enabling the company to expand the range of solutions it can offer to its customers. Furthermore, by combining the logistics functions of Tramo Group and the global network of Nippon Express Group, it will be possible to expand the respective lines of services and solutions offered.
Tramo, as an absolute leader in its market segment, will continue to operate under its own brand also after the acquisition and, thanks to the possibility of using the Nippon Express Group’s infrastructure worldwide and in Asia, it will be able to develop its business in Japan, China, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong.
“This transaction follows the consolidation of Nippon Express in the high-end luxury goods and fashion logistics sector. In recent years, our customers in the luxury and fashion sectors are globally expanding their brands beyond the traditional apparel sector through lifestyle products, such as furniture and hotels. The acquisition of Tramo Group is highly relevant for our growth objectives in the high-end lifestyle segment. The transaction, in fact, represents a fundamentally-important step for both Nippon Express Group and Tramo Group: there are numerous synergies that can be seized thanks to the combination of the two realities and the sharing of know-how, given the unique and complementary resources of the two companies. We will, in fact, be able to offer our customers exclusive services, such as hand delivery of high-end products and designer furniture in Asian areas where this kind of opportunity does not exist to date, and attention to detail in transport, asset management and hyper-specialized assembly,” said Arnaldo Vivoli, CEO of Nippon Express Italia S.p.A.
“We are very proud to become part of Nippon Express Group because of the great strategic and market opportunities and prospects we will be able to seize for the future development of our Group. The signed agreement marks an important turning point in the history of both organizations and on the one hand it consolidates Tramo’s absolute leadership position in the North American and European market for the handling and transportation of high-end products in the world of jewelry, luxury, fashion and desig, but, on the other hand, it opens up extraordinary opportunities in new Asian and Far East markets. Thanks to the support of a highly-structured global player like Nippon Express, customers will benefit from the expansion of new services and even higher quality standards. This is certainly an opportunity that all high-end Made in Italy will be able to enjoy in order to safely manage the entire logistical process of transferring goods and products of great value,” commented Giovanni Di Maggio, Group CEO of Tramo Group.
The Advisors
Tramo and its shareholders were assisted as exclusive financial advisor by Banor SIM, a company specializing in capital management and advisory services for large estates, with a team comprising Marco Saliu (Head of Corporate Finance), Federico Waldner and Mario De Donato, and were supported by Squire Patton Boggs, which handled the legal aspects in the persons of partners Fabrizio Vismara and Ian Tully, Elsa Mora (Counsel, Labor) and Francescopaolo Lauro, Gianluca Valietti and Lucilla Marzolo (Corporate). The M&A teams of PwC Japan and Italy assisted Nippon Express as exclusive financial advisor. For the Japanese side, the M&A team was coordinated by Takayoshi Sato (Partner) and led by Arnaud Ledemazel (Senior Manager), while for the Italian side it was coordinated by the Head of M&A Pier Paolo Ferrando (Partner) and led by Alberto Funaioli (Director).
For legal matters Nippon Express was assisted by PwC TLS with a team led by Filippo Zucchinelli (Partner) and Riccardo Lonardi (Director) with Giulia Picasso (Manager) and, for labor law aspects, by Gianluigi Baroni (Partner), Ivan Arrotta (Director) with Federica Daniele (Manager). PwC TLS also acted as tax advisor for the definition of the structure of the transaction with a team led by Simone Marchiò (Partner) and Marco Messina (Director). PwC also carried out Financial, Commercial, Tax, Labor, Technical & EHS Due Diligence and handled Antitrust issues working in synergy with international due diligence teams operating in 9 countries and 3 continents
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Nippon Express Group – Founded in 1937 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Nippon Express Group or ‘NX’ (parent company Nippon Express Holdings, Inc.) is a leading logistics company in Japan and internationally, providing comprehensive logistics solutions for land, sea and air transport. NX employs over 73,000 people in 49 countries and more than 700 locations. Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, NX has a market capitalization of more than EUR 4.8 billion and a consolidated turnover of almost EUR 20 billion in 2022.
Nippon Express Europe GMBH based in Dusseldorf is the hub for the EMEA market with over 3,300 employees. It was founded in 2012 and operates in the fields of rail transport, air freight forwarding, sea and port transport, warehousing and distribution.
Nippon Express Italia, founded in 2020 and headquartered in Scandicci (Florence), is the result of the combination of three leading companies in the High Fashion/Apparel segment – Nippon Italia Srl, Franco Vago Spa (in 2013) and Traconf Srl (in 2018) – and is at the heart of the global development plan of the “Lifestyle” division of Nippon Express Group. The company employs 1,800 people and is present in 75 locations in Europe, the USA and Asia, with a consolidated turnover of almost EUR 1 billion in 2022.
Tramo Group, founded in 1984, specializes in the logistics and transport of high-end furniture and furnishing components and is a partner of the most popular brands in the world of design. The perfect combination of means of transport, innovative technologies, passion for beauty and a highly-qualified and professional staff guarantee top-notch delivery of high-end furniture and furnishing components. Tramo SA, Tramo Group holding company, is headquartered in Chiasso (CH) and has full control on the holdings of the 17 operating companies in Europe and the USA. The Group employs 400 people and has a further 400 exclusive coworkers; in 2022 it recorded an aggregate turnover of more than EUR 150 million.