Brembo was established in
Paladina, Italy, on January 11, 1961, by Emilio Bombassei and Italo Breda (father and uncle, respectively, to the current Chairman
Alberto Bombassei). The company was named after the
Brembo river. Bombassei lived in a village on the coast of the river before moving to Milan. Soon after Brembo was formed, it specialized in
disc brakes, which were imported from the UK at the time. The company entered into a supply contract with
Alfa Romeo in 1964 and became
Moto Guzzi's brake component supplier in 1966. In the 1980s, Brembo also began supplying brakes to
BMW,
Chrysler,
Ferrari,
Mercedes-Benz,
Nissan, and
Porsche. Brembo went public on the
Milan Stock Exchange in 1995. In 2000, Brembo purchased the UK-based racing brake and clutch manufacturer AP Racing (a former division of
Automotive Products). On November 9, 2007, Brembo's North American subsidiary acquired the Automotive Brake Components division of Hayes Lemmerz. The approximately €39.6-million sale included approximately 250 employees and production facilities in
Homer, Michigan and
Apodaca, Mexico. An official press release on May 21, 2014, announced an €83-million expansion of the Michigan facility. Later that year, on December 2, Brembo also announced plans to invest €32 million into a 31,500-square-meter production facility, projected to produce two million aluminum calipers annually. The expectation was initial operation by 2016 and full operation by the end of 2018. On March 5, 2015, Brembo's deputy chairman, Matteo Tiraboschi, reported the company's 2014 sales growth of 15% up to €1.8 billion and a net profit increase of 45% to €129.1 million. He also reported the company was exploring acquiring assets, with a focus on the automotive and aviation sectors. The company's corporate headquarters are in Stezzano, and the company has more than 10,634 employees within Italy and at branches in Brazil, China, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US. As of 2019, Brembo was present in 14 countries worldwide. In October 2024, Brembo acquired
Öhlins Racing for $405 million. ==Products==