Distributor and manufacturer of personal and protective work equipment Cerva Group has bought the Czech retailer of work wear Fachman. The international distributor, which last year had a consolidated turnover of 6.2 billion crowns from branches in 14 countries, will thus gain six stores in the Czech Republic, where Cerva Group has been based since its establishment, according to Miroslav Rous, Executive Director of Cerva Group.
According to Rous, the company’s management promises to strengthen its position as the largest distributor of protective work equipment in the Czech Republic since its purchase. Last year, the company also bought 80 percent on the domestic market in the company Hygotrend, which supplies cleaning and hygiene supplies.
Following the acquisition of the Danish company Otto Schachner in 2013 and 74 percent in the Spanish protective equipment manufacturer Tomás Bodero in 2018, the Cerva Group wants to strengthen its position in the European market, especially in German-speaking countries. By 2025, it would like to become one of the three largest suppliers of protective equipment in Europe.
According to Rouse, expanding distribution to Western European markets is not easy, and so far only the process of acquiring an established company has proved its worth. Slow deliveries from non-European producers are also an obstacle to further growth. The company is up to 80 percent dependent on goods from Southeast Asia. In the Czech Republic, it takes respirators from the Karlovy Vary manufacturer Refil and the Brno Respilon, and deliveries developed during the coronavirus epidemic.
The foreign expansion of the Cerva Group began in 1996 with the opening of a Slovak branch, ten years later the company’s founder Lubor Červa sold the company to the Russian supplier of protective equipment Vostok Service. In 2008, Cerva acquired a majority stake in the Italian work footwear manufacturer Panda Sport and a 100% stake in the Hungarian work wear manufacturer Vektor.
Cerva Arbeitskleidung GmbH was founded in Munich 11 years ago, which the parent company Cerva Group bought in 2019. The group gradually opened branches in Romania, Hungary, Poland and the Benelux. In 2016, it expanded to Finland, where it bought 65 percent of BockMann. Through the Spanish company Tomás Bodero, Cerva penetrated Central America, operating in Africa thanks to the acquisition of 75 percent of South Africa’s Select PPE from 2017.
Source: Cerva Group and CTK
