With the concluded acquisition of the Italian Pavan Group end of November 2017, the Düsseldorf engineering group GEA purchased a leading supplier of extrusion and milling technology for processing all kinds of fresh and dried pasta, pelleted snack products and breakfast cereals. The acquisition is an important milestone in the declared growth strategy for further expanding food processing activities for the world's leading process solutions and components group for sophisticated production processes.

The Pavan Group is a strong and solid organization, operating in the food industry as global supplier of industrial solutions, from the handling of raw materials to the final packaging. The Italian specialist offers the widest range of solutions for the production of all types of pasta: long and short-cut dry pasta, nest shaped, pre-cooked pasta, couscous, as well as machineries for filled, flat, and extruded fresh pasta, convenience food and gnocchi. They also provide dies, cutting systems, die washing equipment and packaging lines in this segment.

The know-how lies for example in the selection of the appropriate temperature and the speed at which the raw material is pressed through a nozzle. The nozzle design is crucial as well. Extensive application and equipment know-how is required to know how to combine the various machines around the extruder. The German engineering group plans to build up on the 70-year expertise, its broad product range and sustained investment in research and development of Pavan Group and to grow business continuously, for example in geographical terms too. In the future, GEA will be able to offer customers new high-quality and innovative process and automation solutions for deployment in stand-alone installations, but also complete turnkey systems. 

The Pavan Group benefits from the merger of the structures of the large corporation. In conjunction with GEA and its extensive sales and service network, new markets are opening up around the world. As a result, GEA offers ideal growth opportunities as a globally established system provider for the food processing industry. With head offices in Galliera Veneta near Padua, the Pavan group employs a staff of around 680 at several production sites in Italy and China. In the 2016 financial year, Pavan generated revenue of around EUR 155 million. GEA has acquired several companies in Northern Italy over the past few years, including Comas and Imaforni. This means that there are already a number of GEA locations in the region, which further encourages successful integration into the GEA family.