Yesterday, the American giant Thor Industries, the world’s largest manufacturer of leisure vehicles, announced that it had bought the German group Hymer, which controlled 100% of Laika. The Ponterotto plant in San Casciano is therefore also part of the global motorhome risk. Thor Industries (headquartered in the State of Indiana and listed on the New York Stock Exchange) will pay 2.1 billion euros to fully take over Hymer (including debts of about 300 million) and paying the German family owner 1.7 billion euros cash and about 2.3 million shares of Thor.
The operation will create the world’s largest manufacturer of motorhomes, the market leader in both the United States and Europe. Thor CEO Bob Martin, commenting on the operation, stressed that “no job cuts are planned: we want to exploit synergies to grow companies and make our employees happy”.