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Published on 21.07.2026 
Agrati‘s story in Hauts-de-France began in 2010.
The Vieux-Condé and Fourmies sites, then owned by the Acument Group, were facing financial difficulty.
The Italian group decided to take over these industrial assets as part of a growth strategy designed to:
🔎 Key points about taking over struggling companies
For Agrati, the choice of location was based on strong, lasting competitive advantages.
Northern France is one of Europe’s leading automotive hubs, home to three global automakers and more than 500 equipment manufacturers and suppliers.
Taking over these regional sites enabled Agrati to:
This decision marked the starting point of a profound industrial transformation in the Hauts-de-France region.
Since 2010, Agrati has invested several tens of millions of euros in order to modernize equipment, upgrade machinery, improve industrial performance and gradually reposition the two plants toward higher added-value production.
While the sites were operating at a loss at the time of the takeover, the French entities now rank among the group’s top performers.
A strong signal of industrial efficiency in Hauts-de-France.
“When we acquired the Fourmies and Vieux-Condé sites in 2010, both were losing money. Thanks to the Group’s long-term investments, France has been among the best-performing countries for the past two years.”
Lorenzo Zaniboni, Global Operations Director for Europe, COO of Agrati
In 2024-2025, Agrati launched its largest investment program in a decade at its Hauts-de-France sites.
With a budget of €15 million, this project pursues five strategic objectives:
“This investment reflects our shared commitment, at both Vieux-Condé and Fourmies, to continue working together. But above all, it is a strong marker of the group’s confidence in our sites. Return on investment in industry is typically expected within three years. Beyond that – as will be the case with this €15 million – management may deem the investment insufficiently profitable and choose to stick with traditional operations. Yet the Group has nevertheless accepted this challenge, which I believe will allow us to improve production quality.”
Patrick Lelievre, Director of the Agrati site in Vieux Condé
The investment comprises two components:
This new material preparation line will insource the final stage of raw material processing – previously handled upstream by steel suppliers – in the Hauts-de-France region.
It will allow the sites to increase their competitiveness in a highly competitive environment and enable the group to maintain its position in markets facing increasingly fierce competition from outside the European Union.
The project will also create around fifteen new jobs.
Today, the complementary relationship between the Vieux-Condé and Fourmies sites is one of the pillars of Agrati’s industrial strategy in Hauts-de-France.
Far from operating as two independent entities, the plants have been progressively integrated through a strategy based on cooperation and the pooling of resources.
The two sites produce complementary lines of fasteners, share certain equipment, and rely on a shared logistics hub located in Vieux-Condé.
The €15 million investment reflects this approach.
The new raw material preparation line installed in Fourmies will supply both plants.
The expected benefits for both sites are numerous:
This organizational structure also fosters exchanges of expertise, the sharing of best practices and greater operational resilience.
Beyond the amount invested, this program above all reflects the Agrati Group’s conviction that its Hauts-de-France sites have what it takes to remain competitive in an extremely competitive global environment.
Several key strengths convinced the Group of the wisdom of investing in the Vieux-Condé and Fourmies sites in 2010:
These strategic strengths continue to drive the Group’s industrial efficiency in Hauts-de-France today.
One of Europe’s most powerful automotive ecosystems
By investing in Hauts-de-France, Agrati has chosen to establish itself at the heart of a region with a powerful automotive ecosystem:
A dense concentration of players facilitating exchanges with partners: automakers, engineering centers, subcontractors, and more.
For a global supplier like Agrati, this industrial density amounts to a lasting structural advantage.
A strategic location at the heart of European markets
From its Fourmies and Vieux-Condé sites, Agrati serves the entire European market.
According to the Group’s estimates, approximately 60% of French production is exported, directly or indirectly, to other European countries such as Spain, the Czech Republic, Serbia, and Turkey.
Agrati’s geographical location provides rapid access to the continent’s major automotive markets.
Recognized industrial expertise
For Agrati, one of the region’s greatest strengths remains the quality of its workforce.
The Group highlights the employees’ loyalty to their company, reflected in the stability of the workforce and the transfer of industrial know-how – a genuine competitive advantage for the Group.
“In Hauts-de-France, our workforce is worth its weight in gold. This is no exaggeration. These are passionate people who spend their entire careers at the same site – a very rare occurrence today. I actually have an operator whose father and grandfather both worked here.
That loyalty is invaluable. It allows them to hone their expertise over the long term and helps us to preserve the rare skills we rely on.”
Patrick Lelievre
An industrial culture unique to the Hauts-de-France region.
In the United States, for example, many employees couldn’t care less about their company. If the company next door offers them a higher hourly wage, they jump at the chance. That’s not the case here in our region, and it’s one of the reasons we’re committed to continuing our investments here.”
Lorenzo Zaniboni
A region committed to electromobility and Battery Valley
The automotive sector’s shift toward electric vehicles – an unexpected asset at the time of the Group’s initial investment – has become a major challenge for the entire automotive value chain.
The development of gigafactories and the emergence of Battery Valley in Hauts-de-France represent a strategic opportunity in this regard, opening up new avenues for growth.
Agrati is poised to seize this new market, as the company is already developing components for electric vehicles and working on new applications tailored to these markets.
According to Agrati, the support provided by public sector stakeholders during the takeover of regional sites in 2010 was a decisive factor in the project’s success.
“The support provided by the State, the Region, and the industry sector in Hauts-de-France was fundamental to making this takeover happen. In Germany, only two of the six Acument sites were retained, whereas in France, we took over four sites, and another group took over one facility. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”
Lorenzo Zaniboni
Agrati benefited notably from coordinated public support from public stakeholders in the following areas:
“If there’s one thing I’d tell an investor looking to set up in France, it would be not to be afraid of the bureaucracy, because there are people ready and willing to guide you step by step through the process. That’s an invaluable asset you don’t find everywhere. In Italy, for example, setting up a new industrial business can be viewed very negatively.”
Lorenzo Zaniboni
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The support provided for the Agrati project illustrates the high level of cooperation among the different regional stakeholders and the region’s ability to work collectively to secure industrial investments.
This collaborative approach is regularly cited as a key differentiator by foreign investors based in Hauts-de-France.
In 2026, Agrati was nominated for the International Investment Awards organized by Nord France Invest, in the “Regional Roots” category.
This award ceremony honors foreign-owned companies whose projects have a significant impact on regional economic development.
This recognition marks:
“This award is a way of paying tribute to Agrati and thanking the company for being here.”
Patrick Lelievre
Founded in Italy in 1939, Agrati has remained faithful to its core identity as a family-owned industrial company.
In contrast to many investor-controlled groups, the company takes pride in its growth strategy based on productive investment, industrial modernization and the transfer of expertise.
Specializing in the manufacture of high-value-added fastening solutions for the automotive industry, the Group now operates on several continents and supplies the world’s leading automakers.
This long-term industrial culture is one of the key factors in understanding its presence in the Hauts-de-France region.
From the outset, Agrati has viewed its French sites not merely as external growth opportunities, but also as industrial assets to be developed in the long term.
VIEUX-CONDÉ
FOURMIES
Agrati’s history in the region demonstrates that the industrial foundations of the Hauts-de-France region are capable of hosting and fostering the growth of complex manufacturing activities.
This is due to a combination of several factors that are rarely found together:
Above all, Agrati’s growth shows that industrial recovery can become a genuine blueprint for regional development when investors adopt a long-term perspective.
For foreign companies seeking a competitive location in Europe, this trajectory serves as a concrete example of successful industrial investment in Hauts-de-France.
Céline
Gautier
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