SAMSONITE
Suitcase producer buys US competitor Tumi / Synergies in rigid case models made of plastics
In a deal worth USD 1.8 bn (EUR 1.6 bn), suitcase producer Samsonite (Luxembourg; www.samsonite.com) plans to purchase its US competitor Tumi (Europe: Tumi Europe Ecommerce, Unna / Germany; www.tumi.com). The transaction is set to be completed in the second half of this year, pending the approval of both companies’ boards as well as the relevant antitrust authorities.
Samsonite CEO Ramesh Dungarmal Tainwala expects enormous possibilities from the takeover. The Luxembourg-based company, which is majority-controlled by CVC Capital Partners, plans to increase Tumi’s market share in Europe and Asia. At the same time, Tainwala anticipates synergies in the design and manufacture of the two companies’ respective rigid plastic casing portfolios.
Samsonite CEO Ramesh Dungarmal Tainwala expects enormous possibilities from the takeover. The Luxembourg-based company, which is majority-controlled by CVC Capital Partners, plans to increase Tumi’s market share in Europe and Asia. At the same time, Tainwala anticipates synergies in the design and manufacture of the two companies’ respective rigid plastic casing portfolios.
 Samsonite’s "Firelite" plastic casing suitcase (Photo: Samsonite) |
Both companies share similar practices when it comes to plastics processing. Tumi manufactures suitcases made of multiple layers of polycarbonate-aluminium blends (sold under the "Vapor-Lite" brand name) as well as those made of polypropylene ("Tegra-Lite", "Public School"), using the "Tegris" PP composite material from Milliken (Spartanburg, South Carolina / USA; www.millikenchemical.com).
Samsonite uses "Curv", a near identical material sold as a semi-finished sheet by Propex Fabrics (Gronau / Germany; www.curvonline.com). The latter also produces flexible IBCs and delivers the sheet – some of which is glass- or carbon fibre-reinforced and consists of melted biaxially oriented PP tapes – to Samsonite’s plants in Oudenaarde / Belgium and Szekszárd / Hungary. The materials are then processed into suitcase casings and finished with decorative film. Samsonite’s plant in Hungary was expanded in 2014, when the company invested about EUR 8m in the facility to allow it to manufacture polycarbonate casings as well.
The acquisition of Tumi, whose portfolio is widespread in the USA, could help Samsonite make up for some of the losses in its China business, which accounted for a large part of total group sales of USD 2.43 bn in 2015. The group’s operative result in Asia came in at USD 114m – the same as its Europe and North America business combined, although sales in the latter regions reach USD 1.35 bn and are thus much higher. In a year-on-year comparison to 2014, however, the group’s Asia business only posted a sales rise of 6%. In 2014 the increase still came to about 16%. Operative results in Asia rose by only 5.5% last year, compared to about 30% the year before. In Europe, the operative result actually fell by 7%.
Tumi has sales of USD 548m – of which about two-thirds are generated in North America – with a pre-tax result of USD 97m and earnings of USD 63m.
Samsonite uses "Curv", a near identical material sold as a semi-finished sheet by Propex Fabrics (Gronau / Germany; www.curvonline.com). The latter also produces flexible IBCs and delivers the sheet – some of which is glass- or carbon fibre-reinforced and consists of melted biaxially oriented PP tapes – to Samsonite’s plants in Oudenaarde / Belgium and Szekszárd / Hungary. The materials are then processed into suitcase casings and finished with decorative film. Samsonite’s plant in Hungary was expanded in 2014, when the company invested about EUR 8m in the facility to allow it to manufacture polycarbonate casings as well.
The acquisition of Tumi, whose portfolio is widespread in the USA, could help Samsonite make up for some of the losses in its China business, which accounted for a large part of total group sales of USD 2.43 bn in 2015. The group’s operative result in Asia came in at USD 114m – the same as its Europe and North America business combined, although sales in the latter regions reach USD 1.35 bn and are thus much higher. In a year-on-year comparison to 2014, however, the group’s Asia business only posted a sales rise of 6%. In 2014 the increase still came to about 16%. Operative results in Asia rose by only 5.5% last year, compared to about 30% the year before. In Europe, the operative result actually fell by 7%.
Tumi has sales of USD 548m – of which about two-thirds are generated in North America – with a pre-tax result of USD 97m and earnings of USD 63m.
30.03.2016 Plasteurope.com [233709-0]
Published on 30.03.2016
German version of this article...