In a retroactive deal effective 1 January 2015, Wirthwein (Creglingen / Germany; www.wirthwein.de) purchased 70% of the shares in Farel Plastik (Çerkezköy / Turkey; www.farel.com.tr). The latter – formerly a subsidiary of Farplas Group (Istanbul / Turkey; www.farplas.com.tr) – was founded in 1999 and like Wirthwein mostly supplies the household goods industry with injection moulded plastic parts. Farel’s roughly 360 employees last posted sales of about EUR 35m. The company operates 47 injection moulding machines.

The takeover is the latest step in family-run Wirthwein’s ongoing expansion. The group currently employs about 3,000 workers and operates 425 injection moulding machines at 21 sites spread across Germany, Poland, Spain, China and the US. Its entry into Turkey – what it called the "ideal location for launching into the Caucasian or Arab markets" – indicates that the Middle East is becoming increasingly important to the business, the group said.

Wirthwein has for several years already been supplying BSH Hausgeräte’s six plants in Çerkezköy. Farel’s facility is located nearby.

Minority Farel shareholder Farplas purports to be one of Turkey’s largest family-run businesses, employing about 2,000 workers across 10 global operations.