Wise Sgr, an Italian private equity fund management firm, has opened Imprima SpA a new holding company, dedicated entirely to development and innovation in the textile printing and finishing sector in Italy .

It is first action Imprima S.p.a has acquired 100 percent of the German finishing and textile printing company KBC and Guarisco, Italian printed-fabric firm and said it is preparing for new acquisitions in Italy and abroad..

According to the firm, the company’s business model will be centred on the concept of sustainability understood as financial, industrial, social, and environmental sustainability.

Thanks to the creative heritage of the brands acquired through new holding Imprima, clean and smart manufacturing, proximity to markets, high quality, and sustainability, Imprima aims to establish itself as a preferred partner for brands and retailers in the world of fashion.

Imprima, based in Milan, is funded by a pool of financial investors led by Italian private equity fund Wisequity IV, managed by Wise Sgr, a company that has already supported the development of other successful companies in the textile supply chain.

Co-CEO of Imprima, Paolo Gramaglia said that they started with two milestones in the industry: KBC, a company with more than two and a half centuries of history that is characterized by a refined and distinctive design and creative heritage and positioning, and Guarisco, an Italian family company, dynamic, young, known for design that rapidly transposes the fashion factor to bring it to the world of fast fashion.

Over EUR 30 million are planned for investments in technology and an acquisitions programme that continues to this day. They are working to finalise other top level acquisitions in Italy and abroad, added co-CEO of Imprima Chiaretto Calò.

There are industrial solutions but their adoption on a global scale requires volumes, capital, human resources and management that is in an advanced stage of the necessary learning curve: all elements that they have collected at Imprima and its subsidiaries.

Leading the new company will be Paolo Gramaglia and Chiaretto Calò, who share the role of co-CEO of the Imprima group, assisted by Vice President Gianluca Boni and CFO Giovanni Lorato. The management will act in coordination with Valentina Franceschini, Partner of Wise SGR and President of IMPRIMA, and Luca Boni, Director Wise SGR.

The entrepreneur Marco Guarisco and associate Andrea Moretti will remain in all operational effects in their current positions. The CEO of KBC Henri Rowienski will also continue to lead the German company.

The textile printing industry today is worth about 20 billion linear metres, and is growing at a compound annual rate of 2.5%. The digital component of this sector, which today represents only 3-4%, continues to grow at a rate of 20% per year and is expected to reach 2 billion metres by 2020.