Life Elettronica gives Plovdiv-based manufacturer Asel a fresh start with modernization, growth, and job creation

After years of turmoil and financial difficulties, Bulgarian manufacturing companies Asel and Asel Plast are getting a second chance at growth. The Italian group Life Elettronica acquired the two plants in July 2024 for a total of 500,000 euro and has since been working purposefully to restore production, stabilize finances, and gradually expand their capacity in Plovdiv. This was reported by BalkanEngineer.com in a publication by Capital.

The deal—490,000  euro for Asel and 10,000 euro for Asel Plast—was motivated by practical logic: Life Elettronica is a long-standing customer of the Plovdiv plants and was already expanding the number and complexity of the items it orders from them. The new owner decided to turn the Bulgarian companies not only into a supplier but also into its own production center, serving a wider range of markets and customers.

Under the leadership of manager Mauro Cozzi at Life Electronics Bulgaria, the recovery process is already yielding results. "It was a natural decision. They have been our customers for a long time, and we gradually increased the number of items we produced for them. Ultimately, they decided to buy the company and invest in turning it into a production center," said Cozzi, who has been with the company since the previous owners. He adds that after the change of ownership, the first goal—financial stabilization—has already been achieved: in the first five months of 2025, the company broke even and paid off its debts to the state and banks.

Prior to the acquisition, Asel experienced a sharp decline: from about 290 employees at the beginning of 2023, the workforce shrank to just over 110 people at Asel and another 15 at Asel Plast. There was also a dramatic decline in turnover – from a peak of BGN 18-20 million in 2016-2020 to almost half that in 2023, which also led to an accumulation of arrears. The new owner quickly settled the overdue liabilities to the National Revenue Agency, the municipality, and bank loans—a step that allowed the lifting of seizures and the cancellation of mortgages, according to data from the Commercial Register.

The actual investments are already underway. Four new production lines for assembling circuit boards and a modern soldering oven are being transported from Italy – equipment valued at several million euros. At the same time, the production facilities are being renovated and stricter quality control is being introduced, which often includes audits by customers. Life Elettronica expects that these measures will enable it to achieve a turnover of 2.5–3 million euro in 2025 and further growth of 25–30% in the following year.

Despite its expansion plans, the company points out that finding qualified workers remains a major challenge, as many manufacturing operations are labor-intensive and cannot be fully automated. To address this problem, management is seeking partnerships with vocational schools, technical colleges, and universities in Plovdiv to train and attract personnel. The goal is to increase the number of employees to around 150 in the short term.

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