Forterro Forges Further Into Fenestration

The BM Group, which is a dominant player in the market for IT systems that control fabrication and distribution, has been bought by Forterro as it continues its expansion into the fenestration industry.

Forterro is a European software provider which was founded in Scotland in 1979. The BM Group’s products include Evolution, the widely used PVC-U order processing and fabrication solution and Touch, its web-based management platform, which covers all materials within the windows and doors market. 

Orgadata

In November 2024, Forterro acquired Orgadata, a German company known for its Logikal software for designing, calculating and producing windows, doors and curtain walls. The Orgadata deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, pending regulatory approvals. Both companies will operate in the newly formed Forterro Windows and Doors business line. “Adding BM Group to Forterro Windows and Doors means we have an immediate and powerful presence in this market. It is a perfect fit with our other acquisition in the sector,” says Marcus Pannier, the regional president of Forterro. “BM Group is hugely innovative. Bringing it into Forterro means it can benefit from our experience in scaling and growing companies, taking that innovation to a bigger and broader market than would have otherwise been challenging.”  Logikal

In addition to its own products, BM Group is the sole reseller of Orgadata’s Logikal product in the UK. Logikal digitalises and simplifies processes around aluminium window, door and curtain wall designs so that companies can work more efficiently.

BM Group’s MD, Graeme Bailey, will remain with the company, focusing on integrating the BM Group teams into Forterro, while chief technical officer Jim Cronie will continue to drive product innovation. Bernd Hillbrands, the founder of Orgadata, will head up Forterro Windows and Doors following completion of the Orgadata transaction.  “Forterro is the ideal partner for us,” says Bailey, “as it is an industrial software specialist, a sector we also know incredibly well." Advisors to BM Group on the deal were Eversheds-Sutherland, Spencer Gardner Dickens and Thomas Nock Martin Accountants. Advisors to Forterro were Alvarez & Marsal, EY and Foot Anstey.  

Picture: Graeme Bailey, the managing director of Business Micros Group.

www.businessmicros.co.uk

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
12th January 2025

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