Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed. The transaction has closed with immediate effect.
Founded in 1997, Bond-Laminates, based in Brilon, Germany, specialises in developing thermoplastic composite sheets. Sold under the brand TEPEX, these materials combines thermoplastics such as polyamide (PA) and polypropylene (PP) with fibres such as glass and carbon in various formats. More than 500 different TEPEX combinations are available. Standard sheet widths are 620 mm and 860 mm, and length unlimited.
Bond-Laminates employs approximately 80 people and had sales of €16 million in 2011.
Bond-Laminates and its management team will be part of the LANXESS’ High Performance Materials (HPM) business unit, which currently produces Durethan® engineering plastics based on polyamide (PA) 6 and 66, Pocan® engineering plastics based on polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), glass fibre for reinforcement of plastics.
Automotive industry
LANXESS has been working with Bond-Laminates since 2006 on several projects in the automotive industry. According to LANXESS, the composite sheets are easier to process, have excellent mechanical properties and weigh up to 40% less than metal parts. “We see tremendous potential for this composite technology as it spreads from the premium automotive segment to the wider market,” says Chairman of the Board of Management of LANXESS, Axel C. Heitmann.
Bond-Laminates composites are also used in other applications, such as footwear, snowboarding helmets, loudspeaker diaphragms and the housings of electrical products. LANXESS will expand the automotive business and will further develop products for the sports and electronics industries.
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LANXESS has earmarked investments of €125 million in expanding its global production network for high-tech plastics from 2012-2014. The centres of LANXESS’ high-tech plastics value chain is in Antwerp, Belgium, and Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany. In Antwerp, the company is building a new facility to make polyamide plastics and has recently expanded capacities for the chemical intermediate caprolactam, a precursor for the polyamide. Polyamide is then sent to LANXESS’ network of compounding facilities, where it is mixed and refined with additives and glass fibres, to produce the brand Durethan. Existing compounding capacities in Wuxi, China, have been increased and a new plant in Jhagadia, India, opened earlier this year. A compounding plant in Gastonia, USA, will start up this September and one in Porto Feliz, Brazil, is currently under construction. The High Performance Materials business unit is part of the Performance Polymers segment, which generated €5.1 billion in total sales in fiscal year 2011. |
“We are delighted to be joining a global company with excellent ties to the automotive industry,” says Bond-Laminates’ Managing Director Jochen Bauder.
“In addition, LANXESS’ strong position along the high-tech plastics value-chain ensures we have an excellent platform to grow in the future.”
Check out other composites acquisitions which have taken place this year in our Mergers, acquisitions & joint ventures review – 2012.
