Ambienta SGR SpA (“Ambienta”), Europe’s largest sustainability-focused private equity investor, is pleased to announce the 100% acquisition of 1st Vision, the leading distributor of machine vision and automated imaging products in North America. 1st Vision will become part of the Next Imaging platform, which is aiming to become the leading international platform in the imaging and machine vision distribution market.
Machine vision systems are a key component of Industry 4.0 and drive significant efficiency improvements within numerous vertical markets, thereby delivering substantial environmental benefits. Vision systems allow for a better use of production resources by increasing manufacturing efficiency which results in scrap reduction and material use optimization. As a value-added distributor, Next Imaging’s services are critical in determining which machine vision components and software are better solutions for an application and delivers the best performance. In 2019 alone, Next Imaging’s services contributed to ca. 14,400 tons of Food Saved, equivalent to the annual food consumption of ca. 28,000 people, and to ca. 17,500 tons of Materials Recycled, equivalent to 4% of the recycled waste of the city of Milan. Ambienta developed its expertise in this sector through the successful buy-and-build of Lakesight Technologies, consolidating producers of machine vision products. Lakesight saw a 4x increase in turnover under Ambienta’s ownership, ultimately delivering a 10x return to investors.
In December 2018 Ambienta launched the Next Imaging project, with the acquisition of Image S, the Italian leader and #2 player in Europe in the distribution of machine vision and imaging products.
The acquisition of 1st Vision represents a further step in Next Imaging’s strategic plan of consolidating the fragmented machine vision distribution market, to create a leading international player. For over 20 years 1st Vision has been the recognized as the best-in-class machine vision distributor in North America and the only distributor operating nation-wide in both the US and Canada. The acquisition allows Next Imaging to enter the attractive North American market and become a sizeable player at international level.
Ambienta acquired 1st Vision directly from the founders, who saw in Ambienta a trusted partner for the next phase of the company’s growth. Mike Troiano, an executive with extensive machine vision and international business experience, joined on the day of closing as CEO of 1st Vision.
Mike Troiano, CEO of 1st Vision, commented: “I am excited to join Next Imaging and contribute to this compelling project. With 1st Vision we welcome and are excited about a strong and experienced team which we intend to help and support. With them, I see the opportunity to grow the company into a stronger leader in the market.”
Fabrizio Ricchetti, CEO of Next Imaging, added: “Both Image S and 1st Vision will benefit from being part of a bigger organisation with more resources and a stronger market presence, leading to a higher level of stability and sustainability for customers and suppliers.”
Giancarlo Beraudo, Partner at Ambienta, commented: “The acquisition of 1st Vision provides access to a new growth option in the fragmented US market, where we aim at creating a strong distribution platform, capable of delivering increasingly more value to its customers.”