Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Croatia: Italy-based public-private investment company Simest has acquired a 44% stake in Ediltec Croatia for US$2.1m. SeeNews has reported that the new funds will go towards Ediltec Croatia’s construction of its planned 250,000m²/yr Lepoglava insulating panel plant.

Canada: The Competition Bureau of Canada has cleared France-based Saint-Gobain to acquire Building Products of Canada. Building Products of Canada produces wood fibre insulation panels, among other materials for construction. Saint-Gobain says that the company complements its subsidiary CertainTeed Canada’s existing operations. It expects to complete the acquisition on 1 September 2023.

Denmark: Qubiqa has acquired robotics company CH System. The purchase will see it to gain access to several new business areas such as food handling, pharmaceutical handling and so-called ‘Power-to-X’ energy conversion applications. The move will increase Qubiqa’s staff by 70 persons.

Axel Manøe Jepsen, chair of Qubiqa, said "Today, close to 90% of our activities are within our core business for the insulation industry. Strategically, CH System fits ideally with our ambition to expand our business areas and ensure that we are more broadly based in several markets. We believe that the acquisition strengthens the future of both companies."

Prior to the acquisition, Qubiqa had 240 employees divided between sales, administration, engineering and production in Esbjerg as well as production in Poland. The company develops and produces automated packaging solutions for the insulation manufacturers around the world.

CH System was established in 1968. It produces handling and packaging systems for a variety of industries including the food packaging, mineral wool handling and biomass handling sectors.

UK: Belgium-based Etex has concluded a deal to acquire glass wool insulation producer Superglass. Superglass operates the Stirling glass wool insulation plant in Stirling, Scotland, and employs 200 people. Etex says that the acquisition will increase its number of employees in its insulation division, which operates 11 plants across Europe, to 1500, and its total UK-based employees to 1300. Etex already produces gypsum wallboard, fibre cement sidings and slates and fibre cement corrugated sheets in the UK.

CEO Bernard Delvaux said “Etex has a clear focus to be the most innovative and sustainable global lightweight building material manufacturer. Joining forces with Superglass today is a great step forward on our growth path in insulation, just one year after we acquired URSA. The need for energy efficient and sustainable buildings is crucial, and Superglass and URSA are a perfect answer for it.”

Canada: Saint-Gobain has entered into a definitive agreement to buy Building Products of Canada for around Euro925m in cash. The privately owned company manufactures residential roofing shingles and wood fibre insulation panels. The acquisition is intended to reinforce Saint-Gobain’s position in light and sustainable construction in the Canadian market. Closure of the transaction is subject to customary conditions and expected by the end of 2023.

Benoit Bazin, chief executive officer of Saint-Gobain, said “This is an important and logical step for Saint-Gobain, allowing us to establish a leading position in roofing in Canada, completing our offering for the building envelope which we have reinforced with the recent Kaycan and GCP acquisitions. It completes our offering of solutions for light and sustainable construction in Canada as we have done successfully in the US.”

Denmark: Belgium-based Etex has completed its acquisition of Skamol, a producer of calcium silicate and vermiculite high-temperature insulation systems.

Etex's head of passive fire protection and high-performance insulation Tanguy Vanderborght said "We warmly welcome Skamol and its 300 teammates within Etex. Joining forces with them strengthens Etex’s position and will accelerate our growth in the high temperature insulation market where we already are a key player with Promat. With our combined expertise in complementary technologies, we will gain scale to extend our geographic reach and expand our offering to our combined customer base.”

Denmark: Etex has concluded a deal to acquire insulation systems producer Skamol. Skamol's products include ceramic insulation and boards made with moler, vermiculite or calcium silicate. The company operates three plants in Denmark and one in Poland. It is headquartered in Aarhus, Denmark, and employs 300 people globally.

Serbia: Masterplast has concluded a deal to acquire the outstanding 49% stake in mineral wool insulation producer Masterwool MW-1. Masterwool MW-1 is currently building a new Euro20m mineral wool insulation plant in Vojvodina. The project is supported by a grant from Hungarian state-owned Hungarian Export Promotion Agency (HEPA).

Masterplast plans to commence a Euro50m growth phase in the near-term future. It expects its sales to drop in the first half of 2023 due to negative trends in new home construction. However, it expects recent new expanded polystyrene (EPS) and extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation capacity to partly offset this.

India: Saint-Gobain has entered into an agreement to acquire Indian market leader glass wool insulation producer Twiga Fiberglass, local press has reported. Twiga Fiberglass has produced insulation as a licensee of Saint-Gobain's glass wool insulation technology since 2005.

Saint-Gobain previously acquired stone wool insulation producer Rockwool India in February 2022.

Argentina: Saint-Gobain has completed its acquisition of stone wool insulation producer Termica San Luis. Termica San Luis employs 40 people at its San Luis insulation plant. It is the market-leading stone wool insulation producer in Argentina.