RIV

The 1965 merger with the large Italian ball bearing company RIV, with its seat in Turin, was probably the most significant single event in SKF's post-war history.

At the time of the merger, manufacturing at RIV and the SKF Göteborg factory was of roughly the same order of magnitude, and the companies had also been founded at approximately the same time. RIV was owned and run by members of the Agnelli family, who also owned Fiat, the automotive manufacturer.

Fiat was also one of RIV's main customers, accounting for approximately half its sales. RIV was by far the dominant bearing manufacturer in Italy, with subsidiaries in all the major industrial nations, as well as being a competitor of SKF's on international markets.

RIV exported mainly to countries where Fiat had established manufacturing facilities.For all these reasons, it had been natural for SKF and RIV to conclude an agreement regarding cooperation and market sharing as early as 1932.