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Acquisition strengthens Officine Maccaferri’s foothold in the geosynthetics segment in North America
Ambienta SGR S.p.A., one of Europe’s leading and largest asset managers entirely focused on environmental sustainability, has announced that its platform company Officine Maccaferri S.p.A., a global leader in environmental engineering solutions, has acquired Synteen Technical Fabrics Inc., an established U.S.-headquartered company developing and manufacturing geosynthetics for the infrastructure sector.
“The acquisition of this long-established company is a major opportunity to strengthen our presence in North America and accelerate our sustainable growth path,” said Stefano Susani, CEO at Officine Maccaferri. “With the new manufacturing hub, which will allow us to further expand our offering, we will be able to meet our customers’ growing demand for more sustainable and resilient infrastructure even more effectively. This investment is the latest example of Maccaferri’s efforts to be recognized as a global leader in sustainable solutions for the infrastructure sector.”
Founded in 1998 in Lancaster, S.C., Synteen offers a broad portfolio of high-performance geosynthetic products, such as geogrids and high-strength polyester fabrics. These products are designed to enhance soil reinforcement, improve ground stabilization, and support civil engineering and construction projects. The longer durability of Synteen’s products has a positive impact on resource efficiency through extended infrastructure lifespan in areas such as highways and similar road and railroad projects.
Synteen supports the development of major infrastructure projects, including geosynthetics applications for roads and highways across North America, with clients including federal agencies such as the United States Forest Service and the Federal Highway Administration. Synteen’s product portfolio of low-emission and environmentally-friendly solutions for the geotechnical industry contribute to both resource efficiency and pollution control under Ambienta’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) framework, which is used to help direct investment decisions.
“The addition of Synteen marks the first strategic acquisition for Officine Maccaferri under Ambienta’s stewardship and is perfectly aligned with our vision for the group supporting this environmental champion in consolidating its presence in North America and beyond,” said Mauro Roversi, private equity chief investment officer and founding partner at Ambienta.” We are particularly excited to be investing in a business with a strong U.S. heritage that has already-established supply chains, facilities, and client base in the country.”
“With this investment we continue to deliver on our vision of building the group’s future growth through targeted M&A and supported by Maccaferri’s dedication to environmental sustainability,” added Andrea Venturini, private equity partner at Ambienta. “We have already made significant strides in improving revenues and EBITDA since investing in the business in early 2024 and we look forward to continuing this momentum.”
Based on Ambienta preliminary estimates, the addition of Synteen contributes to over 1,300,000 tons of materials saved and to ca. 18,500 tons of CO2 emissions reduced.
The global construction and infrastructure market is worth €12tn, with the infrastructure market responsible for 5% of global CO2 emissions, the majority being driven by the impact of construction materials (Source: Bain/Ambienta). The market exhibits continuous growth, supported by several fundamental drivers including the growing share of urban population, the need for new infrastructure in developing markets, the upgrading of existing infrastructure in developed economies, and the increasing impact of climate-related hazards. In this context, the consolidation of the group’s presence in North America will contribute to strengthening Maccaferri’s geosynthetics division in a geographically strategic market where the group’s turnover has doubled over the last five years.
Maccaferri has continued to expand its role as a global leader in this space, with its over 3,500 employees across 70 subsidiaries and over 20 factories delivering engineering solutions in more than 130 countries. Since Ambienta’s involvement in early 2024, revenues have grown from EUR 600m to almost EUR 700m, with a double-digit EBITDA margin. Ambienta has sought to help scale the business internationally through organic and external growth as well as through the introduction of a new senior leadership team, led by the recent appointment of Stefano Susani as new Group CEO and Fabio Roppoli as Group COO.
Ambienta is a European environmental sustainability investor across private equity, public markets and private credit. Operating out of Milan, London, Paris and Munich, Ambienta manages approximately €4.0bn in assets, with a focus on investing in private and public companies driven by environmental megatrends and whose products or services improve resource efficiency or pollution control. In private equity, Ambienta has completed 81 investments to date. In public equity markets, Ambienta has pioneered one of the world’s largest absolute return funds entirely focused on environmental sustainability and manages a full suite of sustainable products ranging from low-risk multi-asset funds to equity long-only. Ambienta has also recently established a private credit strategy with the same environmental sustainability focus as the other asset classes.
An industry pioneer, Ambienta was one of the first UN PRI signatories in 2012 and attained B-Corp status in 2019. In 2020, Ambienta became IIGCC member and in 2023, as one of very few asset managers, continued being a positive role model for the industry by committing to the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Learn more about Ambienta here.