Polytec Group (Hörsching / Austria; www.polytec-group.com) has made the first moves towards a potential takeover of automotive seat and interiors manufacturer Grammer (Amberg / Germany; www.grammer.com) through the purchase of 9.6% of the company’s ordinary shares. Grammer, which announced in October 2007 that it would cut as many as 700 jobs – see Plasteurope.com of 30.10.2007 – was identified in Austrian press reports in June 2007 as a potential takeover target – see Plasteurope.com of 05.06.2007.

The key driver for the purchase was the current value of Grammer shares, Polytec said. It added that future increases in its stake and a decision on whether to launch a takeover bid will be weighed following a meeting with the German company’s management and principal investors.

According to preliminary figures, sales of the Polytec Group rose 27% in 2007 to EUR 664m, thanks largely to the consolidation of the new Polytec Composites Germany (Bretten / Germany), the former moulding compounds business of Menzolit-Fibron, and Polytec Intex (Morsbach / Germany), formerly ISE Intex. The two businesses were included since 1 April and 1 July 2007, respectively.

Polytec said it expects final figures for 2007, which will be published on 2 April 2008, to show a “noticeable” increase in net earnings. Full-year consolidation of last year’s acquisitions is thought likely to push 2008 sales forward to around EUR 800m. Integration of the two new businesses is said to be making “good progress,” with the high capacity utilisation of the composite plants reflecting the positive development of the truck and commercial vehicle industry.

Meanwhile, the four German production sites of ISE Intex at Morsberg / Lichtenberg and Waldbröl have been consolidated into two.