Further concentration among European plastic automobile parts suppliers: Ymos AG (HQ: D-63179 Obertshausen) has strengthened its plastic external parts business area with a factory for plastic protective strip. It is acquiring Happich SA (Chaussée de Tubize 485, B-1420 Braine-l'Alleud), the Belgian subsidiary of Gebr. Happich GmbH (PO Box 100249, D-42002 Wuppertal), with 230 employees and a 1994 turnover of about DM 50m. Ymos and Happich have taken this step "based on strategic decisions concerning the alignment of the business activities". Happich will concentrate on vehicle interior fittings, while Ymos will be responsible for exterior parts.

The takeover brings new products and technology and a broader range of customers to Ymos's plastic exterior parts business. Happich SA manufactures protective strip for doors and roofing, and also owns the exclusive rights for the production of "expandable sealing material". This type of "foam-in-place" plastic sealing material is used for acoustic insulation, stiffening and sealing of hollow sections in vehicle body posts. According to Ymos, this is a rapid growth market segment.

Ymos has been in Belgium since 1991, when it established its initial subsidiary in Fleurus near Charleroi. It is intended to integrate the newly acquired subidiary into a new company, Ymos Belgium AG. Ymos is projecting 1994 turnover of approximately DM 200m for plastic vehicle exterior parts with a workforce of about 650.

READER SERVICE: Ymos annual report 1993 (in German): PIE-No. 36052.