NEWS
Combining strengths
Instalco new owner of Sprinklerbolaget BIOCRATES Life
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nstalco has broadened its offering through the acquisition of the sprinkler company Sprinklerbolaget Stockholm AB, with nation-wide operations in fire protection and sprinkler systems. Sprinklerbolaget was founded in 2007 and currently has 45 employees at its offices in the Swedish cities of Västerås, Helsingborg and Säffle. For the 2017 financial year, preliminary net sales amounted to approximately SEK 75 million. IKEA, DHL, Akzo Nobel, Peab and Fastec are some of its customers. Sprinklerbolaget is a fire protection company certified according to SBF (from the Swedish Fire Protection Association) and offers planning, installation, service and maintenance of automatic fire suppression systems with a speciality in fire sprinklers. In 2017, the subsidiary Automationsbolaget Sverige AB was founded, which offers ventilation system control programmes. “Through the acquisition of Sprinklerbolaget, we broaden Instalco into a new area of operation. We see several synergies between our existing units and Sprinklerbolaget, as they are working within the same geographic areas,” says Per Sjöstrand, CEO of Instalco. Visit: www.instalco.se
Plastech acquires majority share in Kautex Maschinenbau
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ienna-based Plastech Beteiligungs GmbH is the Kautex Maschinenbau Group’s new majority shareholder after acquiring a 74.9% stake. The Austrian company takes over from the previous investor capiton AG (Berlin). The Kautex management team, under Dr Olaf Weiland and Andreas Lichtenauer, will retain a significant investment in the company. Kautex Maschinenbau has enjoyed above-average growth during the last 12 years. The company’s revenue increased from approximately €60 million in 2006 to over €140 million in 2017. Financial investors played an important role in making this achievement possible. CEO Dr Olaf Weiland sees the majority acquisition by Plastech as the perfect opportunity to advance the long-term development of the company with the support of a medium-sized principal shareholder. “We are very pleased with the partner we have found in Plastech and the entrepreneurs behind the company,” commented Weiland. “We particularly like the company’s focus on the plastics technology sector, on profitable growth achieved with a customer-centric approach, innovation and digitalisation, and on taking a long-term approach to business.” Visit: www.kautex-group.com
Safic-Alcan UK acquires Techform Fine Chemicals
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afic-Alcan UK has acquired 100% of Techform Fine Chemicals Limited, a chemical distributor specialising in the construction sector in the UK and Ireland. Techform is a speciality chemicals distributor with a focus on the UK and Ireland. “The acquisition of Techform will enable us to strengthen our
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footprint in the construction sector and widen our Group expertise in this field,” stated Yann Lissillour, director of Mergers and Acquisitions for Safic-Alcan. Techform produces and distributes a wide range of polymers, thickeners, accelerators, retarders, shrinkage compensators, defoamers, air entrainers, plasticisers, binders, as well as a special-
Sciences acquires Metanomics Health
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IOCRATES Life Sciences AG, a global leader in targeted metabolomics, has acquired Metanomics Health GmbH. Metanomics Health is a metabolomics biomarker development and healthcare services specialist based in Berlin, Germany. BASF Plant Science GmbH, the former owner of Metanomics Health GmbH, will keep a minority share of BIOCRATES Life Sciences AG. The complementary skills and technologies of the merged companies will enable BIOCRATES to serve the fast-growing metabolomics market as a total solution provider, with a focus on healthcare and pharmaceutical applications. “Together, BIOCRATES and Metanomics Health provide the broadest technology and metabolomics product portfolio in the industry. These will enable us to provide deep metabolic phenotyping through targeted metabolomics profiling services, customised assays, targeted screening kits, and comprehensive data interpretation. Moreover, the merger will enable us to develop kits for both Diagnostics and Companion Diagnostics,” said BIOCRATES’ CEO Dr Wulf Fischer-Knuppertz. Dr Tim Bölke, Metanomics Health’s managing director, commented: “Metabolomics has the potential to bring a new dimension to diagnosis and patient stratification in precision medicine as well as to improve the drug discovery and development process.” Visit: www.biocrates.com ity additives portfolio grouped under its private label name. “As part of our overall C.A.S.E. strategy, we see this acquisition as a stepping stone in the UK market and we look forward to further building on this additional expertise within Safic-Alcan,” concluded Philippe Combette, CEO of Safic-Alcan. Visit: www.safic-alcan.com
