Can you give us an overview of TXT Group’s operations within the aerospace industry?

Aerospace represents about 50% of the total turnover of €70 million for TXT Group. We have been working in the aerospace industry for over 30 years with a focus on avionic software and software components of flight simulators. Our target customers are aircraft and helicopter OEMs and their Tier-1 suppliers. We offer a range of services from modeling and simulation to software and system design, software development, system integration, testing, validation, and certification of systems. We also develop technology-supported immersive training systems for pilots and other actors across the product lifecycle. Our offering is completed by digital manufacturing solutions and flight operations support systems such as ground stations, flight planning systems, electronic flight bag applications, and more.

Can you describe the rationale behind the recent acquisition of a Germany-based company by TXT Group?

TXT Group has historically focused on the Italian market, but we have expanded globally by delivering solutions across 30 countries worldwide. We have won several new international customers mainly in the areas of avionic and flight simulation software. We have also set up local teams in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland. To expand our offerings in other niches across the industry value chain and gain rapid access to a larger base of global customers, we have decided to accelerate our organic efforts with targeted acquisitions. Earlier this year, we acquired PACE Aerospace Engineering and Information Technology GmbH, which offers proprietary software products and consultancy services to aircraft OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers worldwide in aircraft pre-design and customer engineering. They also offer software for fleet and route economic analysis and planning and electronic flight bags applications for inflight fuel optimization. PACE’s global customer base, complementary offering of software products and expertise, and access to a new segment of the aerospace and aviation value chain (i.e., airlines) aligns with our strategy of accelerating international growth through targeted acquisitions.

Is TXT Group looking to expand outside of Europe?

Our target market consists of global companies, and to serve them properly, we must be global as well. While consolidating ourselves in Europe, we have started working with clients in North America, which we consider strategic to sustain our ambitious growth targets. We also have a partnership with China, seeing the Asia-Pacific market as an interesting opportunity for mid-longer term upside growth. We currently operate from two main hubs, Milan and Berlin, and through other nine local teams across Italy, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, and the US.

What trends have you noticed in the past few years within the Italian aerospace sector?

The Italian aerospace industry has been consolidating over the past few years, with the integration of a number of Finmeccanica companies as divisions of the new Leonardo entity. Many groups across Europe, such as Airbus, have followed the same path. The aerospace industry continues to invest in R&D and new product development to meet a widening spectrum of operational requirements, stricter safety and environmental regulations, and leverage technology advances to be more competitive and differentiate. Italy, with its global leaders in some segments of the industry, such as Leonardo Helicopters, is fully aligned with this approach. TXT Group is well-positioned to ride this wave by combining mastery of the most innovative technologies with a deep understanding of customers’ challenges and key processes, offering experience and software products that span across the industry value chain and the entire product lifecycle.