First for high-performance flooring Junckers

FIRST FoR hIGhPERFoRmANCE FLooRING

Junckers is a Danish company that leads the field in the design and manufacture of solid wood flooring for the sports, residential and commercial market segments. Its carefully balanced range of products are produced in Denmark, thus its clients benefit from the solid traditions of its world-famous Danish craftsmanship. Recently the ongoing success of the company has been enhanced by the involvement of Jysk Fynsk Kapital (JFK) investments, who has purchased a majority shareholding in the company, as Philip Yorke reports.

Founded in Denmark in the 1930’s, Junkers’ consistent growth through the years has resulted in it becoming Europe’s leading hardwood flooring company. Today it is represented worldwide through seven subsidiaries and a large network of distributers and carefully selected agents. Exports account for two-thirds of the company’s total sales and its products are sold in over 50 countries across four continents. Junckers is the only flooring company in the market that complements its range of products with its special series of dedicated wood-care products. These are also produced inhouse for the regular maintenance and renovation of wooden floors.

New horizons

With the announcement of the financial involvement of the leading investment company JFK, new horizons are now possible for Junckers. Per Kristensen, the CEO of JFK said, “Junckers is a company with a strong brand and really good products. Through a focused strategy, the management has created a sound business with good earnings, which provides a strong foundation for continued growth and further development”. JFK is one of Europe’s fastest growing investment companies and it is worth noting that the investment company already owns several leading companies in the building materials sector.

Junckers CEO, Carsten Chabert commented, “We were not actively in a sales process, but we have had dialogue with JFK since before the summer vacation of 2018. The discussions have been as much about how we can further develop Junckers, as the actual sale of the shares. In this way, we have learned a great deal about each other, and I am confident that JFK will contribute a lot of knowledge and expertise, combined with their focus on longterm development of their businesses; they are a good match for us. Obviously, I am pleased and proud that we have developed the company to become an attractive acquisition for such experienced industrialists, as the ones behind JFK.”

Portable floors bounce back

For many years, Junckers has been involved with the FIBA (the International Basketball Federation), which began with the supply of sports flooring for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Subsequently, Junckers also supplied sports flooring for many EuroBasket 2009 events in Finland, Israel, Romania and Turkey.

Following these premier venues, in 2017 Junckers also signed a partnership agreement with the FIBA to serve as Official Technical Suppliers for Eurobasket 2017. As the leading supplier of portable hardwood sports flooring, Junckers provided custom-made, specifically designed portable solid hardwood courts for the five venues that hosted the biggest basketball competition in Europe.

Today, Junckers continues to work in partnership with FIBA, and its hardwood sports flooring continues to out-perform all others with its unique area-elastic characteristics. These not only give athletes the ultimate freedom of movement, but it also protects them against injury and ensures that all competitors are able to perform to the best of their abilities. Junkers portable sports flooring is also ideal for temporary use, such as for basketball tournaments, coverings for ice rinks and even for non-sporting events such as concerts. In addition, simple and easy assembly and disassembly adds to the attraction of the company’s range of products.

Junckers has the technical expertise to design and supply solid hardwood flooring that is ideal for consumers and for underfloor heating. It also offers wooden sports flooring for a broad range of indoor activity areas such as gyms, fitness flooring, athletic facilities and multi-purpose rooms.

All Juncker’s flooring is supplied pre-finished from the factory with either urethane protective coating or oil. n For further details of Junckers’ innovative flooring products and services visit: www.junckers.com

BASF

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