Lectra takes a majority stake in Caron Technology after two decades of working together

Lectra has acquired a 70% stake in Caron Technology, the Italian maker of cutting-room preparation systems, in a transaction finalised in August for €1.9 million. The financing structure gives Lectra an option to raise its holding to 100% by 2029. Both companies are based in Europe, and Lectra is listed on Euronext.

The two have worked together for nearly two decades. Caron Technology, founded in 1993, builds spreading machines, feeding units, roll loaders and cutting tables, the equipment used in the stage before fabric is cut. Its Lion 100-200 automatic fabric spreader is among the products that now join Lectra's portfolio.

Lectra makes technology for the fashion, automotive and furniture industries. The transaction is intended to deliver a unified, comprehensive range of cutting-preparation systems for soft materials. Fabric spreading and feeding are a strategic stage ahead of cutting, and the outcome directly affects a cutting room's overall productivity. That is the performance metric Lectra says it wants to improve for its customers.

What each side said

Maximilien Abadie, Lectra's deputy chief executive officer, called Caron Technology "a trusted industrial partner" and said its equipment "ideally complements" Lectra's portfolio in what he described as the connected cutting room of tomorrow. He added that the reinforced alliance consolidates Lectra's offering by adding what he called recognised expertise in cutting preparation.

Giulio Gallo, Caron Technology's managing director, said the deal marks "the culmination of many years of fruitful collaboration" and that the two firms share a commitment to innovation, quality and customer service.

Gallo said the partners will now accelerate development of their solutions and extend their reach to a wider range of manufacturers. The companies have not said whether the Caron name will be kept on the products.

A run of acquisitions since 2018

Lectra has been acquisitive since 2018, and the company frames the pursuit of synergy as part of its industrial development strategy. It bought Belgian competitive-analysis specialist Retviews in 2019, US industrial group Gerber in 2021, French marketplace tool Neteven the same year, traceability specialist TextileGenesis in 2022 and marketing platform Launchmetrics in 2024.

Caron Technology extends that run into cutting-room hardware specifically, a category the earlier deals had not covered directly. Retviews added competitive analysis, Gerber added US industrial manufacturing, Neteven added marketplace management, TextileGenesis added traceability and Launchmetrics added marketing data, so Caron Technology fills a gap in physical cutting-room equipment that the software and data acquisitions did not touch.

Lectra employs 2,800 people across more than a hundred countries, with production sites in France, China and the United States. It generated turnover of €507 million in the 2025 financial year, of which €89 million came from its software-as-a-service business, a segment that has grown alongside the acquisitions Lectra has made since 2018.

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