In a statement, GEA said the acquisition of CMT, which supplies equipment and integrated production lines for pasta filata cheese, "reinforces once more its capabilities at the growing sector of cheese processing."
Peveragno-based CMT, which boasts a portfolio that includes cheese making vats, curd drainage and maturation systems and moulding machines, reported revenue of €11m (.....) in 2014.
While the European Union (EU) remains CMT's main market, the Italian firm also has completed work in the Americas, GEA said.
The acquisition of CMT comes hot on the heels of GEA's purchase of de Klokslag. The Dutch firm, which specializes in large scale equipment for semi-hard cheese production, had previously supplied the likes of Molkerei Ammerland, Deutsches Milchkontor (DMK), FrieslandCampina, TINE, Tnuva and Saputo.
At the time, GEA said the deal would boost its presence in this "growing market."
In a statement, Jurg Oleas, CEO, GEA, branded its acquisition of CMT "another textbook example of our bolt-on M&A strategy to fill technological gaps by acquiring accretive specialist companies in order to enhance our offering of complete process solutions in attractive market applications like cheese processing in this particular case."
"CMT will enrich our scope of solutions know how and we can give them strong support in taking this business to the next level - there are clear synergies in respect of globalizing the sales presence, of gaining access to new customers, and of promoting future technology development," Oleas added.
Investment in the production of mozzarella and pizza cheese has recently increased.
In July, Dutch dairy giant FrieslandCampina announced it was entering the “fast growing mozzarella market” through its acquisition of Belgian producer, Fabrelac.
Two months earlier, Fonterra completed construction of a plant at its Clandeboye site in New Zealand - an investment that will double its production of individual quick frozen (IQF) grated mozzarella.
Its Clandeboye now produces enough mozzarella cheese to top more than 300m pizzas a year.
Fonterra said the additional capacity was required to meet growing demand for IQF grated mozzarella from pizza and pasta restaurant chains across China, Asia and the Middle East.