From the Japanese to the Chinese. Permasteelisa, a pocket multinational founded in 1973 in Vittorio Veneto and engaged in architectural coatings for buildings, was sold by the Japanese Lixil Corporation to the Chinese Grandland group for a consideration of 467 million euros.
The Italian company, which made its debut on Piazza Affari at the beginning of 2010, passed into Japanese hands the following year. The historic Permasteelisa brand will allow to combine resources and knowledge with another global market leader such as Grandland. The Chinese company is in fact considered among the 500 most influential companies in terms of decorative and architectural constructions.
The current CEO of the company, Riccardo Mollo, has ensured that the company will maintain its independence at an operational level.
Permasteelisa is a perfect example of a pocket-sized multinational: not excessively large turnover, but spread of activities worldwide. In fact, the group has about 6 employees and 48 offices practically all over the world. The Vittorio Veneto company is among the world leaders in its sector, and is known for having worked on some very important buildings such as the Sydney Opera House, the Shard skyscraper in London and the new Apple headquarters in Cupertino.
