Spanish lift service company, FAIN Ascensores, has taken strides towards conquering a broader European market with its acquisition of Otis Ireland. Otis Ireland was a subsidiary of Otis Elevator, also a lift service company that has more than a 20% share of the Irish market. After the acquisition settles, Otis Ireland’s name has recently been rebranded as Irish Lift Services.
It’s important to note that Otis Elevator company, an American firm founded in 1853, has a vast worldwide presence too, and was acquired by United Technologies in 1976. Just recently, they also acquired Bay State Elevator.
With the help of Beauchamps’s legal advice, Otis Ireland will be a huge addition to FAIN group and is the first they have ever acquired a subsidiary. The former manages over 4,700 elevators in Ireland currently, and will have around 100 people integrate into the FAIN group workforce.
This comes off the back of FAIN’s entrance into the Swiss market, further showing its appetite for internationalization. FAIN has also been operating in France and Belgium since 2014 and 2018 respectively. It’s clear that the acquisition of a local company, in this instance Otis Ireland, is a common strategy to enter new markets for FAIN.
The strategy is working, because FAIN had expanded its managed elevators by 28% since 2019 – despite the pandemic. They now have over 60,000 devices and almost 1,000 employees. With the addition of Ireland to its portfolio, FAIN will expect its turnover to grow from its recent reports of €100m – with a 15% growth in 2022 as a clearly defined objective.
The history of FAIN
FAIN has been operating since 1972, in which the FAINASA name was a spin-off from Ascensores Mediavilla (AMESA). It wasn’t until 1989 that its name changed to FAIN Ascensores, and a year later opened its headquarters in Doctor Esquerdo in Madrid. This was the first commercial office in the entire sector that focuses on customer services.
It wasn’t until 1999 that the expansion strategy had somewhat begun, first by moving into Santander, Spain. Two years later, FAIN had purchased 2100 JARRE lifts and began specialising in its systems. A commercial agreement of exclusivity was signed with Mitsubishi covering Spain and Portugal.
By 2003, FAIN lifts and offices were all over Spain: Murcia, Catalonia, Valencia, Almeria, and so on. However, expansion was still domestically focused until 2013, when three local French companies were purchased and full French expansion came a year later. A similar strategy was deployed in Belgium in 2018.
Besides the international expansion, FAIN’s most dramatic strategy was in 2019 when they launched ION, and would diversify towards solar panels, electricity supply, and electric car charging points. ION, though, is a new lift that doesn’t require a machine room as well as offers energy savings. It’s a faster, safer lift that uses batteries for its rescue system.
This shines a light on the connection between the supposed diversification. Increasing involvement in electronics and clean energy is enhancing FAIN’s expertise within lifts, helping produce more innovative and energy-efficient designs – something that is increasingly important in the current market.
