Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services Acquires CERTEST, an Italian Laboratory Specialised in Leather and Luxury Goods

HONG KONG, December 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

~ Expanding Bureau Veritas offering to the luxury market ~  

Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services (BVCPS) is pleased to announce the acquisition of CERTEST, an Italian leather and apparel laboratory located in Tuscany and specialised in the testing of luxury goods.

This acquisition reinforces BVCPS footprint in Italy, home to the world's most famous fashion designers and labels, and also a major manufacturing country for garments, footwear and leather goods. Founded in 2004 and located in the tannery district of Ponte A Egola in San Miniato, CERTEST has established a strong technical reputation in the leather and garment industry, working with an impressive portfolio of major brands in both the fashion and luxury markets. Equipped with modern testing equipment, with a surface of 900 sqm and with a team of 32 high skilled employees, the laboratory can perform physical and chemical testing to assess the safety, compliance and quality of leathergoods, footwear, accessories, trims and apparel.

Mark Agius, Vice President, Europe, Middle East & Africa at Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services, comments: "I am very delighted to welcome CERTEST to the Bureau Veritas Group. This acquisition will not only significantly accelerate BVCPS ability to offer full testing services to our softlines clients in Southern Europe but will also reinforce our market position in the luxury market globally, a dynamic and ever-growing sector. As a global leading quality assurance service provider, it is essential for Bureau Veritas to ensure we keep developing our laboratory network to meet the current and future needs of our clients."

Mark continues: "Being able to offer first-class technical expertise to our clients has always been one of the pillars of Bureau Veritas' success. The technical team at CERTEST is well-regarded for their expertise in leather technology and restricted substances. I am pleased to know that our European clients will benefit from their invaluable technical and market knowledge."  

Giuliano Campigli, CEO of CERTEST adds: "We have built a successful commercial and technical partnership with Bureau Veritas over the past few years. Becoming a member company of Bureau Veritas will propel us forward as the Group's bridgehead for consumer products services in Italy and will help us keep growing internationally".

About Bureau Veritas

Bureau Veritas is a global leader in testing, inspection and certification services. Founded in 1828, the group has more than 66,500 employees in 1,400 offices and laboratories located in 140 countries. Bureau Veritas helps its clients to improve their performances by offering innovative services and solutions in order to ensure that their products, infrastructure and processes meet standards and regulations in terms of quality, health and safety, environment protection and social responsibility. Bureau Veritas is listed on Euronext Paris and belongs to the Next 20 index (Compartment A, code ISIN FR 006174348, stock symbol: BVI) Website: http://www.bureauveritas.com

Bureau Veritas' Consumer Products Services division is a leading global quality assurance provider for the global consumer product and retail markets. It offers an array of specialized services including testing, inspections, audits and engineering services for a wide range of consumer products. These products include hard goods; toys and juvenile products; soft goods; premiums;  electrical and electronic products including wireless and mobile devices; automotive equipment; food products as well as health, beauty, cosmetics, and household products. Website: http://www.bureauveritas.com/cps

About CERTEST

CERTEST is a laboratory and a technical consulting office established in 2004, specialized in Consumer Goods Products and located near the hub of the production of leather, leather goods, apparel, shoe factories and relative accessories in Italy. CERTEST Laboratory is accredited by Accredia, according to the ISO/IEC 17025, with Accreditation Laboratory number 1480. CERTEST is recognized by the major International fashion Luxury Brands in Leathergoods, Footwear, Apparel Trims, Apparel. The CERTEST team consists of more than 30 people, most of them graduated in Chemistry. Since 1st August 2014, CERTEST was in partnership with Bureau Veritas Consumer Product Service Division for the provision of softlines quality assurance services. CERTEST generated a revenue a revenue of EUR 3.5 million in 2014. Website: http://www.certest.it

SOURCE Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services