News has just broken that Slovenian caravan manufacturer Adria has been bought for an undisclosed sum by France’s Trigano Group.

It has been known for several months that Adria’s parent company, Protej, which is heavily indebted, was on the lookout for a buyer for the one part of its operations that is profitable. Previous approaches by Swedish manufacturer Kabe and a proposed management buyout of the motorhome division came to nothing.

Adria was established in 1965 and at present employs around 1500 people.

Who is Trigano?

The Trigano Group may be a relatively small name in the caravan world, at least to British caravanners. It is perhaps best known here in the UK for its Silver brand of caravans with pop-up roofs.

And in recent months you’ll probably have become a more familiar with the group’s Caravelair brand, following the introduction of the Antarès range to this country by Marquis Leisure.

But in the world of motorhomes, Trigano it is a mighty player, owning a range of European marques including British brand Auto-Trail.

However, Adria may still be its boldest acquisition so far, as in the motorhome industry it is a market leader in a number of countries, including France. Adria caravans are also popular with British buyers and the brand won a Gold Award at Practical Caravan‘s Owner Satisfaction Awards 2016.

Trigano says Adria, which had a turnover of €350m in 2016, has profits which match its own.

It also says the acquisition, which it can fund entirely from its own banking reserves, will generate synergies in purchasing and production.

We will update this story as more details become available.

And you can read about Trigano’s other British new-year purchase here.