[2] Founded in 1795 by Johann Jacob Rieter (1762–1826), the company initially produced textile products.

As a consequence, the company started to produce spare parts themselves, and in 1810 the first self-designed textile machine left its workshop.

[citation needed] In 1982, Rieter acquired the British textile machinery company Ernest Scragg & Sons Ltd.[3] The group took over Automatik (founded in 1947) in 1992.

SSM took over Giudici S.p.A., Galbiate, Italy in February 2012 which is involved in false-twist texturing field machinery (fine count Nylon yarns).

With this acquisition, Rieter completed the offering of ring- and compact spinning systems by acquiring the Schlafhorst automatic winder business.