Rehau Verwaltungszentrale, the holding company of plastics processing group Rehau (Rehau / Germany; www.rehau.com), is taking over MB Barter & Trading (MBT, Zug / Switzerland; www.mbbarter.ch), the merger partners announced. Financial details were not disclosed. Closing is expected in the second half of 2018, and subject to regulatory approval. The combination will create an entity with an annual sales volume of USD 2.5 bn (EUR 2.15 bn).

Rehau has more than 20,000 employees worldwide. Its trading and purchasing company will merge with MBT along with the latter's global subsidiaries, whose 30 offices worldwide are involved in procurement and distribution of commodity polymers, PET and rubber.

Swiss newspaper Schweizer Handelszeitung said MBT’s sales totalled CHF 1.1 bn (EUR 970m). Its German subsidiaries – MBT PolyTapes (Wickede; www.mbt-polytapes.de) and Re-Pak Folien (Wickede; www.re-pak.de) – are not included in the merger. Both produce PE-based protective films.

The new entity, whose name will be communicated later, will operate as a legally separate company along with the Rehau group and medical technology specialist Raumedic (Helmbrechts / Germany; www.raumedic.com), a Rehau spokesman said.

The two-member board of directors will be Rehau's Jobst Wagner, the new president, and MBT's Thomas Endres. The executive committee's CEO will be Stefan Girschik, currently Rehau's deputy CEO. MBT executives Philipp Endres and Marco Zahnd will be deputy CEO and CFO, respectively.