ADVANCED ROOFING TECHNOLOGY
I
copal is a Danish company that was founded in 1876 by Jens Villadsen, a master carpenter who had specialised in the repair of old tar roofs. The business grew rapidly and, in 1894, he patented a new tar roofing material called Dansk Tagpixtjaere. It was not until 1907 that the Icopal trademark was registered by Jens Villadsen’s son Christian Villadsen – the name came from the Aztec word for resin. In 1912 a new company was established to manufacture Icopal bitumen roofing felt and, in 1955, the parent company name, Villadsens Fabriker, was changed to Icopal AS. Since then, the company’s core product, roofing membranes, has been continu60 Industry Europe
ously developed and expanded to incorporate under-roofing, plastic gutters, roofing panels, roof tiles and geo-membranes. In 1989, Icopal completed its largest acquisition with the takeover of the leading French group Siplast SA, which had subsidiaries in the USA and Germany. The more recent acquisition of Anderson Waterproofing Ltd in 1990 was another landmark development and was followed by the purchase of the Belgian company Polytuil and the UK company Callenders and Vulcanite soon afterwards. Icopal extended its foothold in eastern Europe with the acquisition of the Polish company Izilacja SA in 2000. Later that
The Icopal group is a global supplier of high-end products for flat and pitched roofing, including installation services. Its core business is waterproofing with a particular focus on membranes but also related building materials.
same year, Icopal was itself taken over by a business consortium consisting of USbased Carlisle Companies Inc along with two Danish financial investment companies, Axel ll AS and Kirkbi AS and FIH, one of Denmark’s leading corporate banks. Since 2000, the company has continued to grow and acquire other ‘synergistic’ European companies. In 2007 it was sold to the investment management firm Investcorp.
Universal approval In the building membranes sector, Icopal technology leads the world in both innovation and functionality. For example, Icopal
