Soilmec, which operates on the American market both through its subsidiary Soilmec North America and through its distributors, has sold its majority share of Watson Inc., in advance of the company’s shift toward a developing more advanced technologies and refocusing on the brand.

“The industrial plan for the next 5 years provides for a strong focus on technological innovation, on strengthening the range of the higher-performance equipment and on increasing the structure dedicated to providing value-added services to the market,” says Riccardo Losappio, general manager of Soilmec S.p.A. “These trends will lead Soilmec to offer an increasingly complete and integrated solution, capable of maximizing the return on investment of our customers wherever they operate in the world.”

The transaction was completed in December 2019 for a total amount of $2.5 million. The transaction comes precisely 10 years after Watson sold 80 percent of its shares and makes the Watson family the sole owner of Watson Inc. once again.

Soilmec had acquired a majority stake in Watson, a Texas company operating in the manufacture of foundation rigs in early 2009, as part of a broader project for growth and diversification in foreign markets. Since then, Soilmec has further consolidated its direct and indirect presence on the U.S. market. The good market response has made the collaboration between Soilmec and Watson less and less strategic, leading the companies to conclude their partnership.

Today, Soilmec can boast a deep-rooted presence on the U.S. market, thanks to the North American branch and a distribution network made up of four dealers in the United States and Canada. Over the past 25 years, Soilmec has sold more than 700 pieces of foundation equipment in the North American market: rigs for the execution of bored piles, but also equipment for continuous flight auger piles (CFA and CAP), soil mixing (Turbo Jet), micropiles, anchors, heavy-duty cranes and hydromills.

For more information about Soilmec North America, visit www.soilmecna.com.

Soilmec is an international company that specializes in design, manufacture and distribution of equipment for the ground engineering industry. The company was established in 1969 by entrepreneur Davide Trevisani as Pali Trevisani, today known as Trevi S.p.A.. Since its inception, Soilmec has focused on developing safe, innovative, cutting-edge technologies and provided the construction industry the full spectrum of equipment solutions. For more information, go to www.soilmec.com.

Watson designs and manufactures rigs for drilled shaft construction. The company started as a drilling contractor, and four generations of the Watson family have understood the advantages of dependable, versatile and productive equipment. For more information, visit watsonusa.com.