With the purchases of Poland’s Izoblok (Chorzów; www.izoblok.pl), Norway’s BEWi Group (Trondheim; www.bewi.com) seeks to expand its EPP car components business. The Norwegian holding company, which includes EPS specialist BEWiSyynbra (Solna / Sweden; www.bewisynbra.com), signed a preliminary agreement for the indirect acquisition of 54.21% of Izoblok. The deal, set for completion in the second quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory approvals, will give BEWi 65.66% of voting rights.

At Izoblok, the current management, including CEO Przemysław Skrzydlak, will continue to lead after the transaction, with Skrzydlak becoming a shareholder in BEWI. The Norwegian holding company announced that it would not be a passive investor and instead plans to further develop Izoblok and undertake additional acquisitions.

The Polish company has four production sites, three of them in Poland and one in Ohrdruf / Germany. Izoblok puts its own market share at around 20% for EPP components in the European car industry and considers itself the market leader. Customers include Volkswagen, Jaguar Land Rover, BMW, Hyundai, and Ford. In the 2019/20 financial year to 30 April, Izoblok reported sales of PLN 184.6m (EUR 41.3m) and an EBITDA of PLN 17.2m. In the third quarter of the past financial year, sales fell 9.2% year-on-year to PLN 136.3m, and the operating loss was PLN 6.4m.

At BEWi, the EPP components business recently generated almost 5% of total sales of EUR 463m. The activities include production facilities in Sweden and Portugal, and the main sales markets are Sweden, Spain, Germany, Portugal and a few other European countries. “Like us, Izoblok is an integrated supplier that produces both raw materials and finished products,” BEWi boss Christian Bekken said. “We believe that the two companies are a good strategic fit, and we see great potential for synergies in relation to our automotive business.”