Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Finland: Paroc Group has agreed to sell sale its Paroc Panel System (PPS) business to Kingspan Group. The personnel of PPS will all be transferred to the new owner. Along with the transaction, the parties have agreed on commercial cooperation in stone wool supply to the PPS factory in Parainen. No value for the deal has been disclosed.

"The arrangement supports the focus of Paroc on building and technical insulation. We will continue to seek market expansion and growth possibilities in those areas,” said Kari Lehtinen, chief executive officer of Paroc Group.

PPS is a subsidiary of Paroc Group Oy. In 2015, PPS sales totalled Euro47m, with about 100 employees in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Germany. Paroc Panel System panels are manufactured in Parainen, Finland.

US: Sika has agreed to acquire Rmax Operating, a US-based producer of polyiso insulation products for complete building envelope solutions, including roofing and wall systems. The purchase is anticipated to drive Sika’s growth in the North American market via synergies between the companies. Rmax generated sales in excess of US$75m in 2016. The transaction is subject to clearance by anti-trust authorities.

“The acquisition of Rmax fits perfectly with Sika’s growth strategy in North America, further strengthening our already fast-growing building systems in roofing, sealants and waterproofing. Rmax brings us a proven industry leader, with strong innovations for building envelope applications, along with manufacturing expertise for wall and roofing insulation. We proudly welcome the Rmax employees to the Sika team and are excited about growing our business together,” said Christoph Ganz, Regional Manager North America for Sika.

Rmax Operating produces insulation products and accessories at three production sites in Dallas in Texas, Greer in South Carolina and Fernley in Nevada. Currently Sika USA purchases insulation products from third party suppliers to include in its solutions for roofing and building envelopes. With this acquisition it will now be possible to benefit from in-house production.

Slovenia: Recticel’s insulation division has entered into a production joint venture with Turna by acquiring 50% of the shares of its affiliate Turvac. Turvac is located in Šoštanj and it specialises in the production of vacuum insulation panels (VIP). Recticel Insulation will commercialize VIPs for niche applications in the construction market and Turna will focus on sales to the household appliances markets. This new technology allows Recticel Insulation to enhance its products portfolio and to strengthen its position in high performance insulation solutions for the European building market.

UK: TechnoNicol International plants to use Stirling-based Superglass to launch an expansion programme in the US and to develop its market in the UK and Ireland. TechnoNicol has created a new division at the company it purchased in July 2016 to achieve this aim and has made senior appointments to support it. The company aims to establish a ‘significant’ market share in North America over the next five years.

Ken Munro, Superglass’s chief executive officer, has become chief executive officer of TechnoNicol (UK, Ireland and USA). In this newly created role, Munro will have responsibility for the management and coordination of TechnoNicol’s presence in these regions and will continue to lead and develop the Superglass business as it is incorporated into this expanded structure.

Munro will also have responsibility for the global development of the Superglass brand as it begins to play a part in TechnoNicol’s overall insulation products strategy. As further businesses are developed, both organically and by acquisition, they will be integrated into this unified regional structure, with new jobs likely to be created in Stirling as the regional headquarters takes shape.

Stuart Rowell, who is currently Group Business Development Director at Superglass, and Girts Dikelsons, currently Regional Director TechnoNicol (UK and USA), will be responsible for sales and marketing activity across all product lines in the new region and are appointed as Regional Sales Director (Insulation Solutions) and Regional Sales Director (Bitumen Membrane Solutions) respectively.

Theresa McLean, Superglass’s Chief Financial Officer, has been appointed as chief financial officer of TechnoNicol (UK, Ireland and USA) and Mark Atherton, Operations Director at Superglass, becomes Chief Production Officer and Head of Operations for the newly expanded regional business. Rowell, Dikelsons, McLean, and Atherton will all report directly to Ken Munro.

Netherlands: Arkema has completed its acquisition of Den Braven, a producer of sealants for insulation and construction. Together with Arkema’s subsidiary Bostik, the purchase adds to the group’s presence in the sealant market around the world. The takeover is expected to add synergies of at least Euro30m.

"We are pleased to welcome the Den Braven teams. Their state-of-the-art technologies, first-class industrial facilities and know-how widely recognized by their customers are all assets that we will continue to develop and build upon within Bostik. We are confident that this new growth platform will support our very strong ambition in adhesives," said Vincent Legros, Executive Vice President of Bostik, a subsidiary of Arkema.