The Texan company Denali Inc. (1360 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 2250, Houston, TX, USA) is aiming to take over the Dutch company, Welna N.V. (Postbus 309, NL-7570 AH Oldenzaal). The acquisition is said to cost a total of USD 55m. The resultant company, will, according to Denali, have annual sales of USD 250m and will then be the world´s biggest processor of glass fibre reinforced plastics. Only established in 1994, the Denali Group is now continuing its vigorous growth strategy outside the United States, a strategy which has been based on acquisitions in what was formerly a rather fragmented market segment. Corporate sales have grown from USD 17.8m in 1995 to USD 127m in 1998. Denali´s core business involves providing solutions for handling critical liquids. Containers and components in this market are frequently made of GRP, as they offer a wide range of resistance properties and excellent design scope.

Welna N.V. is 120 years old and has two sub-companies, Welna Kunststoffen BV and Welna Handel BV. Apart from manufacturing GRP pipe systems and containers, the company also trades in high-tech products and engineering systems for power stations, water treatment and chemical and paper production processes. With the future sister companies in the Denali Group, namely Containment Solutions, Ershigs, Fibercast, Sefko, PlastiFab and Belco, the Group will have production sites in the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, France, England, Poland, Venezuela and Thailand. Apart from the geographical expansion, Denali expects the acquisition to increase the company´s range of services so that it can offer its customers highly effective all-in solutions.