The Swedish aluminium group Sapa (SE-114 85 Stockholm; www.sapa.se) has sold its Autoplastics division (SE-442 40 Kungälv) for an undisclosed sum to a new MBO company run by the Dutch Gilde Investment Management. The injection moulding company founded in the Swedish town of Trelleborg in 1934 started processing thermoplastics in 1940 and was acquired by Sapa predecessor Gränges in 1980. In 1995, the Swedish automotive supplier merged with the Italian Zanussi Componenti Plastica and thus acquired a European dimension. The company is reverting to its original name of Plastal for the future.

Plastal develops surface-coated injection mouldings for cars and utility vehicles; its activities are focused primarily on the exterior, and particularly on bumpers and radiator grilles, although also on trim, hubcaps and mudguards. Plastal claims to be one of the leading European companies for bumpers, alongside Plastic Omnium, Peguform and Dynamit Nobel. It produces panelling, air nozzles and decorated parts, such as switch knobs, for automotive interiors. More than half of Plastal´s sales are achieved with Volvo (cars), Saab and Iveco; other customers include GM (Opel), Volvo (trucks) and Scania. The company has production sites in Belgium, Finland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain and Sweden (4). Sales of SEK 3.38 bn (about EUR 360m) were achieved in 2000 with 2,180 employees, while sales for the first six months of 2001 totalled SEK 1.86 bn (EUR 200m). The percentage return on sales was approximately 2.2% and hence considerably lower than for the other Sapa group divisions.

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Extracts relating to Autoplastics from the 2000 Sapa Annual Report with an overview of activities, financial figures and European addresses as PDF document (92,1KB)