Roca Group has signed the acquisition of a 75% stake in Royo Group, the European leader in the field of bathroom furniture. Roca has purchased 62% of the company from the American fund HIG and the Royo family will continue to hold 25% of the firm’s capital.
Royo Group owns three production plants in Spain and Poland along with two innovation centres, and the company manufactures around one million pieces of bathroom furniture annually, with a turnover of 95 million euros in 2019 and a workforce of 793 people.
With this combined operation, Roca Group and Royo have created a dominant force in bathroom furniture, with a global turnover of over 173 million euros in this segment and a production of close to two million units per year in nine production centres located in Spain, Portugal, Poland, Czech Republic, Russia, China and Brazil. Additionally, Roca Group says that it is consolidating its leadership in the creation of bathroom spaces, increasing its market share in an activity that complements sanitary tiles. Roca Group has been advised by Alantra and Broseta in this transaction, which is pending approval by the German and Polish competition courts.
As part of Roca Group’s strategy to set up specialised centres of expertise for different product categories within the bathroom space, Royo Group will become the hub for the development of the furniture segment for Roca Group, while continuing with the commercial development of its brands.
According to Albert Malgrans, CEO at Roca Group: “With this alliance, we reinforce the bathroom furniture category, key in our sector, with the European leader with whom we share the business vision and with whom we have collaborated closely over the last 10 years. This merger will allow us to further increase our competitiveness in the bathroom space and achieve the world’s leadership in this segment.”
UK MD Alan Dodds added: "The news about our acquisition of a controlling share in the Royo group is not only very positive news for the Group but also for the UK and Ireland too. Bathroom furniture is now an absolutely critical part of any bathroom design and sale. Indeed the "washpoint" comprising the basin, furniture and tap is almost certainly the number one decision making aspect for most consumers. We have been extremely successful in recent years with growing the furniture category for both Roca and Laufen brands, but the association with Royo and the expertise and capability they bring will help us to become even more successful in the future."
