Cifa-Zoomlion: A Chinese M&A Overseas and Its Integration Process

In 2008, Zoomlion acquired the Italian company Cifa, a world leader in the concrete machinery market. From 2008 to 2012, the companies experienced a difficult integration process as cultural differences and operational challenges brought on by the global financial crisis interrupted the stable working relations between the two management teams. After several years of exploration and implementation, the parties gradually started to understand each other and designed a new strategy to respond to a dynamic external environment. After 2015, new international policies (like the Belt and Road Initiative) and unforeseen events (like the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic) shaped a different market landscape, and the future became harder to predict. How did Cifa evolve after the merger with Zoomlion? And what was its new strategy? How and how much could Zoomlion contribute to it?