Schweiter Technologies (Horgen / Switzerland; www.schweiter.ch) continues to expand the portfolio of its 3A Composites (Sins / Switzerland; www.3acomposites.com) subsidiary. After purchasing Dutch transparent sheet producer Polycasa (Geel; www.polycasa.com) earlier this month (see Plasteurope.com of 04.02.2015), the company has now entered into an agreement to acquire Plastwag (Mielec / Poland; www.plastwag.pl), a producer of fibre-reinforced and thermoformed plastic components for the mass transportation sector. Schweiter did not disclose the exact purchase price but stated that it lies in “the low double-digit million CHF range.”

Located about 250 km south of Warsaw, Plastwag manufactures composite materials used in the rolling stock of public and commodity transportation means, including railway engines, train cars and trams. Its portfolio comprises all sizes, ranging from front train walls to interior built-in accessories. The company purports to have “one of the most modern processing lines in Poland and Europe”, allowing for vacuum forming technology production, and is also capable of producing composite elements made of laminates by means of the hand lay-up method. Production – including metal parts – takes place at its 4,800 m² plant. Plastwag posted sales of about CHF 10m (about EUR 8.2m) in 2014.

The Polish company will strengthen 3A Composite’s activities in functionally integrated lightweight systems for buses and rolling stock, adding new technology to its existing portfolio. In addition, the purchase marks “an important step on the direction of system supplier,” Schweiter said.