The Apulian industrialist Vito Pertosa has chosen the German group Siemens for the future of a strategic part of MerMec.
After rumors circulated in the press, today the official confirmation arrived: Angelo Holding – an Italian private technology holding company founded by Vito Pertosa – has signed an agreement with the German multinational for “MerMec, the historic company of the group, a world leader in the Diagnostics & Data Analytics Business, present in Italy in signaling, electrification, telecommunications for the railway sector,” a note from the group stated.
With this move, the Apulian group thus closes the rumors circulated in recent months about a possible entry of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane into the capital of the Monopoli-based company. FS made a proposal, but evidently Pertosa preferred Siemens’ offer.
Specifically, Siemens’ statement details, “the acquisition concerns the main activities of MerMec in the railway signaling, electrification, telecommunications, diagnostics, analysis, and global data infrastructure sectors.” Excluded from the scope of the operation are Angelstar S.r.l., Mont Saint Michel S.A.S with its subsidiary Compagnie des Signaux S.A.S, and MerMerc Deutschland.
Both companies have agreed not to disclose the financial terms of the agreement.
For his part, Pertosa justified the choice with needs related to industrial succession, health conditions, and the search for a “very solid” international partner capable of guaranteeing industrial and employment continuity.
All the details.
WHAT SIEMENS WILL ACQUIRE FROM THE APULIAN GROUP MERMEC
Today Angelo Holding’s note states that it will sell to Siemens the “worldwide diagnostics & data analytics business and wayside signaling in Italy” of MerMec.
Specifically, the “part of MerMec involved in the operation recorded revenues of about 430 million euros in 2025 with 1700 employees” and that “after closing, expected by the end of the year, upon obtaining the usual authorizations, it will maintain approximately 1500 people overall.”
Excluded from the scope are AngelStar (specialized in railway signaling systems), Compagnie des Signaux (formerly Hitachi Rail STS France acquired by the Apulian group in 2024), and Mermec Deutschland, which will merge into a new entity called Angel Signaling, the railway signaling company of Pertosa’s holding with about 800 employees and a backlog of around 2 billion euros.
REASONS FOR THE GERMAN CHOICE
The reasons for the sale of MerMec’s key activities were explained by Vito Pertosa himself. “Formally, I have been retired for 9 months, currently my health is not the best, my children have their own independent paths with their companies,” said the founder of Angelo Holding. Chiara Pertosa is involved with Sitael and Marco Pertosa with Vaimoo, among others.
“For this reason,” Pertosa continued in the released statement, “I looked for a very solid group in the sector to guarantee a serene future to my good colleagues, who contributed to making MerMec the reality it is today, wherever they are. Joining Siemens will offer them a global reality, strongly oriented towards innovation and sustainable growth.”
Pertosa also emphasized that “the operation will help me invest in the other companies of my industrial holding, as well as support the realities of Southern Italy that need to develop and create new quality employment.”
DENIAL OF THE OPERATION WITH FS LAST AUTUMN
The choice of Siemens comes after months of rumors about a possible interest of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane in MerMec. Last autumn, however, the Apulian company had already denied the hypothesis of a sale to the public railway group.
In a note released by managing director Ruggiero Delcuratolo, the Monopoli-based company had defined the hypothesis of an agreement with FS as “once again unfounded.” Delcuratolo had clarified that MerMec remained open “to the entry of new capital, to industrial partnerships and acquisitions,” but “without any due diligence,” denying reports about preliminary checks for an acquisition. “What is certain,” the company concluded at the time, “is that in the coming years MerMec will continue to grow under the current control.”
A few months later, the group founded by Pertosa decided to sell part of MerMec to the German industrial conglomerate.
THE INDUSTRIAL WEIGHT OF MERMEC
Defined by Sole 24 Ore as “an excellence of the Italian railway industry (diagnostic trains and signaling systems),” MerMec, headquartered in Monopoli (Bari), is a company specialized in railway signaling and communication systems. With a share capital of 5 million euros, the company is wholly controlled by Angelo Holding, an Italian private technology holding founded by Vito Pertosa, who is also the CEO. The company specializes in signaling systems, data analysis and management software, as well as track measurement and inspection systems.
In 2024, the group recorded revenues of 432.7 million euros, up from 287.5 million in 2023. EBITDA rose to 75 million, while operating profit stood at 40.4 million. The total order backlog amounts to 3.4 billion euros. In the same year, the group also won a contract in Germany worth over one billion euros with Deutsche Bahn for the delivery and installation of digitized control systems.
The industrial daily also recalled last autumn that “MerMec boasts contracts worldwide, but its main client is the FS group. Starting precisely from the PNRR contract for the new ERMTS signaling system worth 2.5 billion, involving all the giants in the sector (Hitachi, Alstom).” Among its projects is a new railway signaling system for the Channel Tunnel between Great Britain and France.
SIEMENS’ STRATEGY
For Siemens Mobility, the acquisition represents a strengthening of the global portfolio in railway technologies, especially in diagnostics and asset intelligence.
“The operation will significantly strengthen Siemens’ global railway portfolio, with particular focus on diagnostic and measurement technologies, further expanding signaling activities, industrial presence, and market access in Italy,” the German company states.
Moreover, “the integration of Siemens’ experience in urban signaling, combined with MerMec’s strong presence in Italy’s main railway infrastructures, will support the modernization and digitalization of the national railway network,” the note continues. “Siemens Mobility customers will benefit from an expanded service offering that combines Siemens’ asset intelligence and diagnostics capabilities (onboard and on the ground, in depots) with MerMec’s advanced fleet of diagnostic vehicles, equipped with measurement systems and software for railway infrastructure inspection,” added the German multinational, according to which “the result will be a scalable diagnostics and analytics platform, with a global reach thanks to Siemens Mobility’s worldwide presence and a consolidated customer base.”
Finally, the note concludes, “MerMec’s employees, all sites, and industrial capabilities will become part of Siemens Mobility’s global innovation ecosystem, which includes the strategic asset of the Ferrosud site in Matera.”
