Austria’s Wolfgang Freiler Group (Wiener Neustadt; www.freiler.eu) is getting a new owner. The plastic pipe supplier is on the verge of being acquired by TeraPlast (Bistrita, Romania; www.teraplast.ro). The Romanian plastics converter has announced the signing of a corresponding purchase agreement with the Uhl family – the family that controls Freiler Group. The transaction price is reported to be EUR 16.53 mn and could be even higher depending on Freiler Group’s EBITDA this year.

TeraPlast is gaining 144 new employees through the deal. In addition to strengthening its product portfolio, the company hopes to gain access to the markets of Central and Western Europe. The six companies in the Freiler Group include pipe manufacturer Polytech (Fertószentmiklós, Hungary; www.polytechhungary.hu) and injection moulding company Pro Moulding (Nagykanizsa, Hungary; www.pro-moulding.eu), which market their products primarily in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, and France. The most recent (2022) annual sales figure for Freiler Group was EUR 31 mn, with EBITDA at just under EUR 4 mn. 

TeraPlast has 923 employees across eight production sites and currently operates mainly in south-eastern Europe. It was just a few weeks ago that the company announced it was close to acquiring Moldovan polyethylene pipe manufacturer Palplast (Calarasi; www.palplast.md). With sales of RON 672 mn (EUR 135 mn), TeraPlast last year generated EBITDA of RON 51.4 mn and a net result of ROM 1.1 mn. In 2024, sales are set to increase to RON 865 mn following the acquisitions, with EBITDA rising to RON 71.7 mn. The quantity of plastics processed – the most recent figure being 75,346 t – is also set to rise to 100,000 t.