Manufacturing group Avon Rubber has acquired an Italian firm making specialist milking products for €29.75m (£20.7m).
Melksham-based Avon said InterPuls would broaden its product range, client base and geographic reach and boost growth opportunities for its dairy division. 
The acquisition is expected to significantly enhance earnings in its 2016 financial year.
Family-owned InterPuls, based between Parma and Bologna, has developed a unique range of specialist milking components, including pulsators, milk meters, automatic cluster removers and vacuum pumps, enabling customers across the world to configure state-of-the-art milking systems.
In addition to traditional milking components, it is expanding into hi-tech sensors and devices to monitor the life cycle of a cow, analysing milk production, reproduction and health data to provide critical management information to increase operational efficiency of the farm. Following the acquisition, its products will be sold under the new Milkrite-InterPuls brand, which will be positioned as a leading provider of milking point technology, providing complete teat to pipeline solutions for the dairy sector.
Avon chief executive Peter Slabbert said: “This is an important and strategic acquisition for our Dairy division. InterPuls has developed a product portfolio of hi-tech milking components, telemetry and software to improve milking performance and efficiency, which complements the current Milkrite products.
“InterPuls significantly expands our dairy expertise, positioning us as the milking point experts, and through Milkrite-InterPuls we shall create a significant global brand with enhanced geographic growth opportunities for the future.”
