G.M. Leather, an Egm-listed company, strong with revenues of 21.7 mln euros in the first 6 months of 2023 and an ebitda margin at 13.90 percent, is focusing on diversification and increasing sustainability of its processes to continue the path of consolidating its presence in the luxury segment.
Headquartered in Arzignano, the Group has specialized in tanning and processing leather for the biggest brands in the leather goods, footwear and furniture sectors for more than 45 years. G.M. Leather, the lead company, handles raw material procurement and marketing, supported by SNAM. Genesi, on the other hand, is dedicated to special processing and customization.
Thanks to an extraordinary operation, the Group has also internalized an entire business unit of Conceria Palladio - along with property, machinery and equipment - specializing in the preliminary processes of greening, liming, fleshing, decalcination and pickling, in order to preside over the phases with greater added value from a green perspective.
G.M. Leather's growth does not stop: the company has just signed a binding investment agreement with Chiorino Technology shareholders to acquire 18.92 percent of the company, which specializes in leather processing for the luxury and fashion sectors. The agreement signed with Chiorino's shareholders (Arcadia Sgr, majority shareholder, and Marco Toscano) calls for a capital increase of €1.85m including share premium, subscribed for €1.5m by the current shareholders and €350,000 by January 31, 2024 by G.M. Leather.
"The objective shared with Arcadia," explains Simone Voltolin, CEO of G.M. Leather, "is to develop all the potential and industrial and commercial synergies that can emerge from collaboration with our Group. This operation represents an opportunity for diversification and further consolidation of our presence in the luxury segment. We also want to position ourselves as a reference interlocutor capable of responding to the eco-sustainability needs of lifestyle and luxury brands, with a distinctive competitive positioning and significant prospects for value creation."
Sustainability is another very important issue for the Group, documented by a series of concrete actions and data that demonstrate its commitment to adopting production processes that are increasingly less impactful on the environment and human health.
"We have established a special corporate ESG committee," Voltolin recounts further, "and next year we will present our first sustainability report. Our industrial production processes are fully tracked and we have taken measures that allow us to reduce energy consumption by 22 percent and CO2 emissions by 21.3 percent. We also have a co-generator to produce electricity and heat for machinery operation, heating and hot water production, and we will be installing a new one at the Genesis company headquarters very soon."
The Group has eliminated carburation oil (BTZ) and invested in Industry 4.0 machinery that allows monitoring consumption and reduces environmental impact: specifically, the machinery functional to the development of luxury allows the recovery of material in processing, almost completely reducing waste; a new spray system, on the other hand, allows a reduction of chemicals by 30 percent.
The company is LWG certified and has plans to obtain Blue Angel, a European certification that assesses emissions of chemicals considered hazardous relative to the items produced. Last but not least, G.M. Leather has committed to purchasing 600 plants for the Beleafing Project, a participatory and distributed forestation campaign in the Veneto region, promoted by the province of Vicenza and IUAV Venice, with the aim of improving air quality and climate.
