CVS Ferrari is active in container handling equipment.

NEIP III SpA, an investment company run by Finint & Partners, and Group Battioni Pagani subsidiary BP Handling Technologies Srl have signed an agreement to acquire 100% of CVS Ferrari Srl Manitex International Inc., a company listed on Nasdaq.

NEIP III will have a 60% stake, while BP Handling Technologies will take the remaining 40% share of the aggregate BP-CVS.

CVS Ferrari is active in container handling equipment, while BP Handling Technologies specialises in sideloaders.

The merger of the two companies will take advantage of their networks and technologies, according to an official statement.

To date, the two companies have a combined annual turnover of about EUR50 million (USD53 million) and employ more than 100 people.

It appears that Stefano Mercati will continue to run the CVS Ferrari business. "We believe strongly that by focusing on products for vertical movement of the containers (reach stackers and stackers) combined with innovative technology that the market (has been) waiting for for years, we can grow a lot and be competitive in the world, taking full advantage of the potential of a historic brand and a full range such as CVS Ferrari," he says.

CVS Ferrari is the seventh investment for NEIP III, although other recent acquisitions have been in the agricultural and food sectors.

In 2010, Manitex International Inc agreed to operate the CVS Ferrari SpA container-handling business.