Spinning industry is booming

Congratulations of your takeover of Schlafhorst, Accotex and Temco. Could you briefly tell us about the joint company philosophy in relation to the 3 Saurer businesses?
Thanks. I wish to begin by expressing my gratitude for your good wishes. And, as you can imagine, we are very happy that we have been able to take over the 3 businesses.
Let me start with the strategic rationale of the first portion of this acquisition, the completion of the ring and compact systems of Rieter with the automatic winder from Schlafhorst.
Ring and compact spinning are the biggest segment in the market. Rieter is strong in this segment, but our offering was not complete the way it is in rotor spinning and in air-jet spinning: the last step in the process “from bale to yarn” was missing. And this is why it is so important that we were able to acquire this business.
Let me elaborate on to the strategic rationale of the 2 attractive components businesses that we acquired.
The first one is Accotex, a premium brand in the segment of cots and aprons. The company brings with it both an attractive OEM business and a wear and tear business. It is a very good fit for the Rieter components business. We do not have that business today, only very small activities in the cots and the apron segment. The acquisition helps us to further improve our market position in ring and compact spinning.
The second one is Temco, a company that operates in the filament business. You know that we made our first attempt to go into this market with the acquisition of SSM and they are active in the filament business as well. And now we have added a second component business which is very attractive. What they offer is bearing solutions and texturing components for filament machines. Here, too, we have acquired an attractive OEM and a wear and tear business.

Are Schlafhorst, Accotex and Temco managed as independent companies? What synergies do you want to exploit?
The winder business will be integrated into our Business Group Machines and Systems. The 2 component businesses will be integrated into the Rieter Business Group Components. The brands Accotex and Temco will operate like Bräcker, Graf, Novibra, Suessen and SSM under their own brands in the market.
We are looking for synergies in the market, in connection with our current offering, and not so much for cost synergies.

Are there any other company acquisitions planned?
Rieter is always interested in acquisitions that have the potential to make the company stronger.

What are the main issues arising from the takeover? Are there plans for further cooperation with Saurer?
Rieter will continue to supply Schlafhorst automatic winders to Saurer, this is part of our agreement. In the near future, this will be the focus of our collaboration. Also, we are working on the smooth integration of the 3 businesses into the Rieter Group.

What are be the biggest challenges for the textile industry after the corona pandemic?
The spinning industry is booming. Some of this boom can certainly be attributed to a catch-up effect from the bad years 2019 and 2020. In addition, we observe a regional shift of the industry which has to do with the development of costs in China. Many customers are investing outside China, and Chinese customers are investing in new technologies in the country to stay competitive. And while the boom results in strong order intakes for the spinning equipment manufacturers, we are facing challenges in terms of cost increases and supply chain bottlenecks, mainly related to electronics and freight capacity. And of course, we have the ongoing pandemic in countries which are important to us.