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A manufacturer of mattress foam employing thousands across Europe from its Manchester base has expanded into Italy with a £6.1m acquisition.

Middleton-based The Vita Group, the º£½ÇÊÓƵ's leading provider of polyurethane foam, has bought IMPE, a company owned by Naples-based furniture giant Nattuzi.

Vita Group said it expects the deal to complete in the first quarter of 2021, enabling it to gain an "important foothold in Italy" - the second largest furniture producing country in Europe and one of its largest furniture exporters.

The Naples site will be known as Vita Italy, and manufacture value added and differentiated polyurethane foam for the Italian furniture and bedding industry, as well as expanding the group’s trade links with the Americas and North Africa.

The site, which has production capabilities of 20k tonnes per annum, will enable Vita to release current production in Hungary and Romania to concentrate on further expansion in Eastern Europe and the Balkans region.

Vita Group CEO Ian Robb said: “This strategic acquisition establishes a further step in our ambition to broaden and strengthen our production footprint across Europe.

"We believe this is a win-win transaction for all parties and allows Vita to gain an established foothold in this important market. Under The Vita Group umbrella, and with the assistance of IMPE’s experienced workforce, we look forward to further investing in new plant and equipment to allow us to increase choice, innovation and continued support to our existing and new customers, while further enhancing our presence in the Italian bedding & furniture market.”