Packaging equipment manufacturer HayssenSandiacre, A Barry Wehmiller Company, announces the acquisition of Simionato.

Michael T. May, president of HayssenSandiacre, announced the stock purchase of Simionato Integrated Packaging System S.r.l., a privately owned, through Vela Capital , manufacturer of integrated flexible packaging systems based in Mestrino, Italy.

The combined organization aligns major operation bases in Italy, England and America. With 20,000 machinery installations worldwide and annual revenues approaching $100 million the organizations bring their combined richness of culture and experience to the global flexible packaging industry.

"The addition of Simionato expands HayssenSandiacre's range of flexible packaging equipment solutions as well as our geographical presence in new global markets," May said. "By leveraging the products and experiences of our U.S., U.K. and Italian operations, we are confident the Simionato product line will be immediately accretive to the worldwide HayssenSandiacre business model."

Established in 1963 with the production of a vertical packing machine, Simionato today is a market leader in the design, manufacture and support of integrated packaging systems. With more than 5,000 installations in plants located all over the world, Simionato enjoys a reputation as a quality provider of complete system solutions.

"We are pleased to join HayssenSandiacre as this provides even greater capability to support customers as an enhanced global packaging systems partner with a broad platform of machinery solutions and an expanded network of sales and service team members," said Monica Pugiotto, who will continue as COO of the Simionato operation in Italy.

With the integration of Simionato, HayssenSandiacre gains expanded entry into the European, Middle Eastern and South American marketplaces through an established market leader in products that are complementary with HayssenSandiacre's own offerings.

"This strategic combination of organizations and technologies is very much in alignment with our vision of providing system solutions to meet the range of our customer's global operational needs" explained Simon Lagoe, managing director of HayssenSandiacre Europe in Nottingham, U.K.