Michal Strnad’s Czechoslovak Group bought ammunition manufacturer FMG.
The sale is valued in the hundreds of millions of crowns. This is the company’s first investment in Western Europe.
FMG (Fábrica de Municiones de Granada) will take over from the Slovak conglomerate General Dynamics, part of CSG focused primarily on ammunition production.
FMG employs 60 permanent and 90 agency workers. Production has been slow in recent years. Its output will complement the current offer of the Strnad Group, in particular, the types and calibers used in the states of the North Atlantic Alliance. Today, the company mainly supplies Spain, Portugal, Italy, and other NATO countries, but also has customers in Latin America.
It is among the oldest continuously operating ammunition plants in Europe. Producing gunpowder and weapons in the town of El Fargue near Granada since the late 14th century. Today, the factory focuses, among other things, the licensed production of high-tech guided ammunition Spike or Meteor.
Companies from the Czechoslovak Group operate in the automotive, railway, aviation, and watch industry and produce weapons, ammunition, and select vehicles. The holding also includes Tatra. The Land Systems division, which focuses on defense production and trade of land vehicles or ammunition. The Aerospace division is rapidly developing, including radar production at ELDIS Pardubice, civil aircraft servicing, and flight training.
In 2018, revenues grew by 48 percent year-on-year to CZK 11.5 billion. Gross operating profit grew by 43 percent to CZK 1.9 billion. Czechoslovak Group companies employ 8000 people altogether.