EMI acquires 70% stake in Access Systems, a Belgian peer company specialized in services for industrial access

 EMI, leader in integrated solutions and services for industrial access in Romania, announces the acquisition of a 70% stake in Access Systems, a Belgian company specialized in providing industrial access services. The investment in Access Systems is part of EMI’s strategy, developed together with Morphosis Capital, to expand the company’s international presence through M&A transactions.

“One of the objectives announced at the closing of our partnership with Morphosis Capital was to further expand our presence in the European market, primarily in Belgium and France. We are glad that we managed to take another major step towards expanding outside Romania through the transaction announced today. I am thrilled to find in Access Systems a partner with whom we share the same values and who puts above all the quality of the services offered to its customers. Together with the company’s founders, we plan to turn Access Systems into a significant player in the industrial access services sector in Belgium, through a healthy increase in the annual turnover, which will eventually reach the same level as that of EMI in Romania,” stated Jerome France, founder, and CEO of EMI. 

Access Systems has been present in the Belgian market for over 8 years and specializes in providing customized services for the sale, installation, maintenance, and technical troubleshooting of all brands of industrial doors. The company operates in a factory located in the province of Liege, in the industrial area of Villers-le-Bouillet. Access Systems has 21 employees and over 4,000 customers, mainly in the Walloon region, from various sectors, such as pharmaceuticals, construction, transportation, food processing, or distribution. Access Systems’ client portfolio includes Aldi, Delhaize, Mercedes-Benz, TNT Express, Emerson, Carrefour Group, Logistics Base Intermarché, airports, many local hospitals and nuclear power plants.

By partnering with EMI, Access Systems will diversify its client portfolio to provide integrated customized services based on EMI’s unique digitalization model. Considering that Access Systems is not a manufacturer of industrial doors, EMI will expand its presence on the Belgian market by selling industrial access solutions produced in Romania. Access Systems will continue to operate in Belgium under its own brand, and the founders, François Pirnay and Jean-Benoît Leroy will continue to be involved in the company’s day-to-day business. Moreover, the two companies plan to enter together the Luxembourg market.

Through this transaction, EMI takes a first step in achieving the long-term goal of becoming the go-to one-stop shop for total industrial solutions and complex technical projects in Romania and Europe. The company also targets a second M&A transaction on the Belgian market in the first half of 2022 to further grow its market share in the Benelux region.

For 2021 fiscal year, Access Systems estimates a turnover of 4.6 million euros, in line with the results generated in 2020. On the other hand, EMI expects revenues of approximately 14 million euros in 2021, increasing 23% compared to 2020. The company estimates that amid the accelerated development of logistics projects in 2021, clients in the industrial and logistics area will remain the main growth vectors in the coming years. For 2022, EMI expects revenue of over 18 million euros, including the turnover generated by Access Systems.

EMI has 22 years of experience on the Romanian market, specializing in industrial access solutions – doors, gates, shutters, curtains, fences, and other industrial enclosures. The company has 80 employees and provides integrated solutions, from consulting, design, manufacturing, assembly, to maintenance and service, for global access solutions for the industrial, commercial, and logistics sectors. At its factory in Căteasca, EMI also develops unique technical solutions adapted to client needs.

In September 2021, EMI announced the entry into the company’s shareholding of the private equity fund Morphosis Capital, which, together with the fund’s investors, acquired a 51% stake in the company for 15 million euros. EMI’s investment in Access Systems was funded partly from the capital raised from Morphosis Capital and through bank financing.