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Birmingham, Ohio & Kolding, Denmark, June 5, 2023 – The KKR backed food processing automation platform that today includes Bettcher Industries (“Bettcher”) and Frontmatec announced that Massimo Bizzi has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. Josh Stiever and Allan Kristensen will continue in their roles as President of Bettcher and CEO of Frontmatec, with both now reporting into Mr. Bizzi.

Dan Daniel, Chairman of Bettcher and Executive Advisor to KKR, said, “Massimo’s leadership and growth mindset, combined with Bettcher and Frontmatec’s technical capabilities, will help us continue to unlock value for our customers, employees and other stakeholders. I am thrilled to work with Massimo and all of the employee owners at Bettcher and Frontmatec to continue driving growth and innovation for our customers as we build the industry’s leading food processing automation platform.”

Mr. Bizzi joins Bettcher and Frontmatec after nearly 20 years of industrial manufacturing experience, including more than 10 years leading multinational businesses across a wide range of end markets in Europe, the U.S., the Middle East, and Asia. He previously held multiple roles at John Zink and Koch-Glitsch, before serving most recently as President and Chief Operating Officer at Howden. Massimo’s rich track record of commercial acceleration and global operational experience will be critical to Bettcher and Frontmatec’s future success.

“It is an honor to join this organization and work alongside Dan and the KKR team to build the industry’s leading food processing automation platform. I look forward to serving as the CEO of this organization, which today has two leaders in the protein processing and automation space,” says Massimo Bizzi. “We have an incredible opportunity to grow these businesses and expand our presence in other segments, while continuing to help our customers enhance labor productivity, generate better yield, and improve worker safety. I am truly excited to partner with the rest of the leadership team and all employees to build on our strong customer relationships and culture of innovation, as we add new capabilities and growth vectors through acquisitions of complementary businesses.”

About Bettcher Industries
Headquartered in Birmingham, Ohio, Bettcher is a leading developer and manufacturer of innovative equipment in the food processing and medical device industries. The Bettcher portfolio includes the following: Bettcher, a designer and manufacturer of handheld trimmers, tools, and cutting consumables for all protein applications; Cantrell-Gainco, a manufacturer of processing equipment and yield enhancement and yield tracking systems for various protein operations; ICB Greenline, an aftermarket replacement parts and services company focused on poultry processing; and Exsurco, a manufacturer of medical devices and consumables. For more information, please visit https://www.bettcher.com/en

About Frontmatec
Headquartered in Kolding, Denmark, Frontmatec is a leader in end-to-end automated solutions for the red meat processing industry. Frontmatec serves customers worldwide through its global manufacturing and service footprint, including many of the world’s largest red meat processors. It is a full-line supplier of processing equipment, parts and services, instruments as well as controls software, which help solve key issues pertaining to yield, health and safety, animal welfare, food quality and more. In 2022, Frontmatec joined forces with Bettcher Industries, a Unites States-based leading developer and manufacturer of innovative equipment in the food processing and medical device industries.  For more information, please visit: https://www.frontmatec.com/en.

Cleveland Magazine has named Tim Swanson a Cleveland 500 leader for a second year in a row!.  The Cleveland 500 listing includes leaders, doers, visionaries and idea generators who help shape the city and the community.  The listing encompasses leaders in the five-county Cleveland metropolitan area.
 
Tim Swanson is among a group of several manufacturing leaders named to the Cleveland 500 list.  As CEO of Bettcher Industries, he leads a company with Northeast Ohio roots that run deep.  For decades Bettcher has been a major Cleveland-area employer and a committed corporate citizen. Click HERE to read the full publication.
 

November 3, 2021 - All Employees to Become Owners in the Company

KKR, a leading global investment firm, today announced the signing of a definitive agreement under which KKR will acquire Bettcher Industries and associated aftermarket parts and consumables, from MPE Partners.

Click HERE to read the Bettcher release.
Click HERE to read the KKR release.