Italian Inverter Manufacturer FIMER Rescued

Italy’s FIMER SpA has announced it has been acquired by a subsidiary of McLaren Applied Group, with the support of Greybull Capital.

The inverter, EV charger and energy storage firm says the acquisition by MA Solar Italy Limited marks an “important turning point” for the company; enabling it to bring its restructuring process to fruition, supporting its plan for the continuity of the business and allowing it to expand its activities.

“MA Solar Italy Limited was selected due to its robust business plan, which outlines a clear strategy for sustainable growth, development and innovation of Fimer’s core business, ensuring the long-term development of FIMER operations and workforce,” said FIMER.

Established in 1942, FIMER started out manufacturing welders and began developing inverter technology for large scale renewables in 1983. In 2020, the firm expanded into the home and small commercial market with its acquisition of ABB’s solar inverter business.

After the acquisition, FIMER claimed to be fourth largest solar inverter supplier in the world and had three inverter manufacturing facilities – two in Italy and one in India; plus several R&D facilities. The same year the company launched a portfolio of residential and commercial FIMER EV chargers.

FIMER inverters for home and small commercial applications continued to carry ABB branding until around mid-2021. ABB enjoyed significant popularity with its residential solar inverters here in Australia, and when FIMER acquired the inverter business, it committed to honouring existing ABB warranties.

FIMER Fizzes

Cracks started appearing in the firm during the COVID-19 pandemic due to lockdowns and component/raw material shortages. It certainly wasn’t the only solar manufacturer to experience this, but there were also some management challenges adding to its woes and the company subsequently faced a cash crunch. The company then came up with a “relaunch plan” in mid-2022.

In September 2023, Greybull/McLaren Applied completed a first tranche payment of 5 million euros; meant to be part of a total investment of 50 million euros from which it was envisioned Greybull/McLaren Applied would acquire 100% ownership of FIMER. This followed the official resignation of FIMER’s then-current Board of Directors. But FIMER went into administration in late 2023; with administrators launching proceedings for its sale in July 2024.

As for what’s next, more details regarding the acquisition and future plans will be released in the “coming days and weeks”, but it’s expected to include further market expansion aspirations, including in new sectors. In September last year, Managing Partner and co-founder of Greybull Capital Marc Meyohas said:

“Our plans are clear: we wish to re-establish Fimer as a world leader in its field. We will do all we can to achieve this.”

Given the last few years at FIMER, they may have their work cut out for them to rebuild confidence in the brand; particularly given the increased competition in the inverter market.

Greybull acquired McLaren Applied from the McLaren Group in August 2021. McLaren Applied, founded in 1991, is focused on electrification, telemetry, control tech and analytics. The firm operates across motorsports, automotive, transport and industrial sectors.

Among Greybull’s other “rescues” was Tata Steel’s Long Products division (renamed British Steel) and Plessey Semiconductors (subsequently taken over by Facebook/Meta).