Balseurop, headquartered in Fontcoberta, Spain, expects to have sales of over CHF30 million in 2011. The company buys raw balsa wood from farmers in Ecuador which is then processed into Balsaflex balsa core material in Balseurop’s recently built factory in Ecuador. Gurit says this acquisition completes its core materials portfolio for the wind energy and marine markets. The company already manufactures CORECELL™ styrene acrylonitrile (SAN) foam, PVCell G-Foam polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foam, and G-PET polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recyclable foam.
With the acquisition of Balseurop, Gurit says it is now uniquely positioned to supply a full range of prepregs, all relevant core materials and kits, adhesives, and turbine blade moulds to the wind energy market and – for the most part – to the global marine market. Gurit is acquiring now a majority stake in Balseurop; the former private owners will remain minority shareholders for the coming 3 years. The transaction consists of an initial payment with performance-based installments over the next 3 years. The total purchase price is approximately €20 million.
In addition to supplying Gurit's balsa requirements, Balseurop will continue to serve its customer base from its operations in Spain. “We are excited to take our current trading relationship with the successful team of Balseurop – headed by the Bonet-Haberkorn family and their teams in Spain and Ecuador – to a next level and to create additional growth momentum,” says Rudolf Hadorn, CEO of Gurit.
Gurit, headquartered in Switzerland, specialises in the development and manufacture of advanced composite materials and related technologies. Its key markets are wind energy, tooling, transportation, and marine.
