MatHolding grows 17% in 2024 and reaches record turnover of €406 million

BarcelonaThe Catalan family-run industrial group MatHolding, specializing in irrigation systems and the production of phytosanitary products, achieved record revenue last year, reaching €406 million, 17% more than in 2023. MatHolding, which will celebrate its 90th anniversary in 2025 as Industrias Químicas del Vallès Inversiones, plans to invest around €20 million this year, although this budget is open to increase if acquisition opportunities arise, as explained by the company's president, Pau Relat, in a meeting with journalists this Tuesday.

In fact, Relat has indicated that the strategy involves balanced growth between business growth (organic) and acquisitions (inorganic). In the latter case, he indicated, the goal is to incorporate companies that "have the capacity to multiply EBITDA" (operating profit before taxes and depreciation). Relat has detailed that 2024 was also a historic year in terms of EBITDA, as it stood at 56 million, 40% higher than in 2023, although MatHolding does not provide the net result.

During 2024, the company acquired a plant health plant from Bayer in Quart de Poblet (in the Valencian region of l'Horta Sud); it acquired the companies Yamit and SI, and launched a plant in India, where Relat sees great capacity for business growth, because it is a country with considerable legal security and "the hydraulic infrastructure is yet to be created."

Headquartered in Parets del Vallès (Vallès Oriental), MatHolding, controlled by the Matosas family, although with a totally professionalized management, aims to reach 500 million in revenues in 2026, an objective that remains fully valid, because this 2025 also expects to grow "in double digits", according to Relat. The group, with more than 1,200 employees and presence in 140 countries around the world and plants spread across several states, such as India, the United States, Israel or China, has become a true multinational, with 70% of its business abroad.

MatHolding has two major business divisions: agriculture, which accounts for 60% of its business, and water, with the remaining 40%. The agricultural business grew by 23% last year, and the water division by 20%, the company's president explained.

Relato announced that MatHolding has launched a new brand, called Cerestia, to bring together the four companies in the agricultural division: IQV, a world leader in copper salts for agriculture; Regaber, dedicated to precision irrigation; TerraNostra, linked to farm transformation; and Vegga, a platform for the digitalization of agriculture.

Tariffs and Israel

In the face of Donald Trump's trade war and tariffs, Relat, who is also the president of Fira de Barcelona, ​​​​has indicated that the group's latest acquisitions place it in a comfortable position in a country like the US, given its industrial presence and subsidiary there.

Regarding a possible IPO of the family group, Relat has ruled it out, because, "for strategic purposes," the company does not need to go public. He also noted that the group does not need to resort to the stock markets to obtain financing—it has a very low debt ratio of 0.5% times EBITDA—or to set a reference value for the company's shares.

Regarding the group's two plants in Israel, Relat explained that they continue to operate, despite "great operational complexity" and "much higher" costs.