Mare Group is using M&A to deepen its position in mission-critical industrial software.
The Italian group has acquired EMM Systems, a specialist in software platforms for digital supply chain management in the pharmaceutical sector. Terms were recently announced. While the headline consideration was not broadly disclosed, the transaction was completed at a total equity value of EUR 7.5 million, with EUR 3.0 million paid at closing and a further EUR 3.0 million payable by June 2026 under a structured payment mechanism.
Why this deal, why now
Pharma supply chains are tightening around traceability, temperature-controlled logistics, and compliance requirements. That pushes IT spend toward systems that sit in the operational core and can withstand audit scrutiny.
EMM Systems operates in that lane. The company focuses on applications with high operational criticality, including traceability, optimization of logistics flows, and regulatory compliance. For Mare Group, this adds a vertical software asset aligned with ongoing demand drivers in regulated industries.
How Mare Group is structuring the bet
The acquisition is also notable for how it is being deployed inside Mare Group.
It represents the first investment tied to the growth strategy of the Mare Group Engineering Hub, with the stated aim of enhancing integration of skills and market opportunities. In practice, this signals a platform-building approach: add a specialised software capability, then use a broader engineering and delivery footprint to industrialise rollout and accelerate commercial reach.
The transaction is connected to EasyGo, a search fund jointly promoted by Mare Group and Borgosesia. The use of a search-fund structure is consistent with a repeatable sourcing engine for founder-led software assets, particularly where operational integration and governance matter as much as product.
Value-creation levers: what is known vs what is still a question
Known from disclosed information
- Sector focus: EMM is positioned in pharmaceutical digital supply chain management.
- Product scope: traceability, logistics flow optimisation, and compliance-oriented applications.
- Integration intent: the Engineering Hub angle suggests Mare is underwriting execution through shared capabilities and cross-group coordination.
Key questions for underwriting
- Revenue quality: public disclosures do not specify recurring revenue mix, contract duration, or churn. For operational-critical software, the durability of revenues is often driven by validation requirements and process embeddedness, but that has not been confirmed here.
- Switching costs and validation burden: there is no specific disclosure on switching costs in this niche. In pharma, change control can be a moat, but the degree depends on how the platform is deployed and validated.
- Go-to-market overlap: the extent of customer overlap between Mare Group entities and EMM is not detailed. Cross-sell is plausible, but unproven from available facts.
Integration considerations
This is a capability acquisition in a regulated end-market, so integration is less about cost takeout and more about execution quality.
Areas to watch include:
- Product governance and roadmap discipline: aligning release cycles and validation practices with a larger group’s delivery model.
- Systems and data architecture: whether EMM’s platform integrates cleanly with clients’ broader ERP and logistics stacks.
- Leadership depth: retaining product and domain leaders is often decisive in vertical software.
- Delivery bandwidth: expanding implementations without degrading service levels, particularly where compliance and traceability are non-negotiable.
Market read-through
The deal fits a broader European pattern: buyers leaning into vertical software exposed to regulatory complexity and supply chain resilience. Pharma remains a priority segment because compliance requirements can make digitalisation spend more durable than in discretionary IT categories.
For Mare Group, EMM Systems looks like a targeted move to anchor deeper in regulated supply chain workflows, while using the Engineering Hub and the EasyGo sourcing model to build a repeatable acquisition playbook.
What to watch next
- Whether Mare Group discloses a broader bolt-on pipeline under the Engineering Hub strategy.
- Any indication of customer concentration and contract structure at EMM Systems.
- Management retention and how EMM’s product roadmap is positioned post-acquisition.
- Evidence of commercial synergies, including cross-sell or expansion into adjacent regulated verticals.
- Follow-on investments in implementation capacity and compliance tooling to support scale.