The Arzignano-based company has acquired the historic firm, leader in leather finishing products. Synergies are underway for development in foreign markets
An important and strategic operation was made official in December 2022 by Leder Chimica, the historic company headed by the Zanconato family which has been operating for several decades in the Vicenza tanning district, leader in the production of chemical products for leather for clothing, furniture, footwear, leather goods and automotive upholstery and interiors: that’s the acquisition of Veco, a prestigious brand with registered office in Monticello Conte Otto, a town in the hinterlands of Vicenza, which has already been working for some time in the Chiampo valley, in the Tuscan district and also abroad.
Veco was founded in 1971, thanks to the will of some entrepreneurs, experts in the chemical-tanning field and was led by a German engineer, the founder, who had worked for a long time in a multinational company. Together they decided to join forces, setting themselves long-term goals, even ambitious ones. After more than half a century, the numbers show that many of those goals have been achieved and extended to the whole world.
Currently Veco, which specializes in finishing products, is a consolidated firm that keeps on being on the Italian and international market successfully. The staff is mainly made of chemical engineers, laboratory technicians, employees and personnel in charge of production and sales managers. The headquarter in Monticello Conte Otto covers an area of approximately 15,000 sqm, out of which 5,200 are indoor. Inside the sheds there is the warehouse for raw materials and finished products, the production department of polyurethane resins, pigments and auxiliaries, while a wing of about 800 sqm is used for offices and four independent laboratories: the chemistry analysis and synthesis control, R&D, process control and the application laboratory.
To get further details of this operation but above all to understand the developments expected in 2023 and in the coming years, Tannery International visited the headquarters of Leder Chimica in Arzignano, which was founded in 1986 by Gastone Zanconato and is now led by Michele Zanconato, supported by his sons Enrico and Filippo, who represents a successful company, and is now in its third generation.
“The great strength – as specified by Enrico Zanconato – is that Veco produces 95% of its chemical products while only 5% is purchased to be subsequently marketed. Speaking of the plants, the company can count on modern machinery for the production of pigments and by a series of reactors of different capacities for the production of polyurethane resins and other products as well as a large number of mixers for the production of auxiliaries and compounds. Currently its production capacity is around 300 tons per month. In terms of business strategy, Veco has decided to keep the focus on modern finishing products for the tanning sector, but also developing different sectors.”
Filippo Zanconato answers how this brand has grown in recent years: “We have moved from the production of pigments only to the production of solvent and aqueous auxiliaries, with an important production of polyurethane resins. The flagship remains the creation and the development of complete finishing systems with particular attention to the chemical / physical properties. Today, the production can satisfy all the requests coming from the tanning environment and its products can be used in the field of furniture, clothing, footwear, bodywork of cars and leather goods. In Italy it is one of the very few companies to boast a polyurethane plant. Despite the absence of its owner, who passed away prematurely, the company has managed to maintain an important share of the market, serving direct customers and retailers and chemicals companies, who buy their chemicals and then resell them with their own brand, with a special penetration in some foreign markets.”
After the acquisition, what was the strategy you decided to adopt within the group?
“At least for the moment Veco remains a separate business, based in Monticello Conte Otto, where it will continue to work, no corporate mergers are envisaged by now. in the future, we’ll have to study and develop synergies able to make both brands grow – we are already working on that. As a well-structured and historic industry, started in the Seventies, it boasts expert and long-standing agents, spread across all continents, especially in the East. The integration will certainly lead to important benefits and developments, for the moment the intention is to bring together the two “souls”, able to interact with each other despite remaining separate from a corporate point of view. We continue to be a heritage from which Leder Chimica will now also be able to benefit”.
How will Veco be successful and able to compete at high levels with the competition?
“The main priority remains the polyurethane market, which is the core business by far – replies Michele Zanconato – but wide and varied ranges of pigments, lacquers, fillers and waxes will be offered. Despite the uncertainty of the situation and trusting that the alarm brought by the pandemic may fully fade we are investing in the Chinese market, it will take some time but we are confident and optimistic. Veco operates in China with headquarters in Shanghai and boasts a widespread distribution network throughout the eastern continent. Synergies will be essential in foreign markets, especially those where Leder Chimica is present and through our agents we will be able to implement the sale of finishing products, but with both brands we will also try to enter new markets. The potential is high, we aim to differentiate ourselves from the others, investing heavily in polyurethane-based products, also as regards paper. Another challenge will be diversification of the sectors, confirming that this is not a takeover but a project to strengthen the two companies.”
For Leder Chimica, what will be the main news and strategies for 2023?
“The goal is to increase the percentage of export quota, trying to get where we are not yet present but also to enter more effectively and with many branches that covers the territory in those areas where we have already been operating for some time. We have grown in terms of turnover in the last five years and we are moving to a larger headquarters, still in Arzignano, where the laboratories and warehouse will be located.”
Michele Zanconato, together with his son Filippo