After coming into prominence for supplying battle props to Hollywood productions, Windlass Steelcrafts, a division of the Windlass Group of companies, on Thursday announced the acquisition of Marto of Spain, a leading European manufacturer of decorative historical swords, for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition will also include Marto’s two sister companies — Bermejo, which manufactures military dress swords for many international governments and Midas, a high-quality jewellery manufacturer catering to the world’s gift market. Marto was founded in 1961 in Toledo, Spain.
“We are very excited about this opportunity to complement Windlass Steelcrafts’ network of products and services with those of Marto. We feel that this merger is the perfect synergy of companies, at the perfect time,” said Sudhir K Windlass, president of the Windlass Group after signing the deal in Spain.
With the addition of Marto and its subsequent companies, Windlass Steelcrafts will become a dominant player in the historical swords-making industry of the world.
“Together, the companies will not only have the widest range of state-of-the-art technologies ever available but will also now have the largest distribution arm throughout the world for their goods and services,” Windlass said.
Established in 1943, Windlass Group has diversified into sectors like historical weapons, clothing, pharmaceuticals, real estate and hotels. Through some key partnerships, Windlass started exporting to the US and western European nations in 1979 and has since outfitted many armies of the world, provided props to big Hollywood productions such as Gladiator, The Lord of The Rings, Troy and The Mummy Returns and has manufactured some amazing licensed replicas for many top collectible companies.