Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Ireland: Kingspan recorded sales of US$2.21bn during the first quarter of 2023, up by 4% year-on-year from first-quarter 2022 levels, Reuters has reported. The producer said that group insulation sales remained in line year-on-year. Insulated panel sales remained ‘sluggish,’ but constituted 25% of all orders. By region, sales were ‘strong’ in the Americas and ‘solid for the most part’ in Western Europe, while conditions ‘remained tough’ in Central and Eastern Europe. Kingspan forecast first-half earnings of US$441m in 2023.

The company proposed its future delisting from the UK-based London Stock Exchange, where it says current share trading is ‘negligible as percentage of total trading.’

Spain: Norway-based BEWi has concluded a deal for the acquisition of an 80% stake in Aislamientos y Envases. Aislamientos y Envases operates three Spanish insulation plants, where it produces its expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation products, including boards for underfloor heating and panels for external thermal insulation composite systems.

BEWi CEO Christian Bekken said “Through this acquisition, we are expanding our geographic footprint into Spain, primarily within the market for insulation solutions." Bekken added "There is a huge need to make buildings in Europe more energy efficient, to reduce CO₂ and energy costs.”

Norway: Bewi’s shareholders have voted in favour of the company’s acquisition of the remaining 50% of Jackon Holding in order to become sole owner. Bewi will hold an extraordinary general meeting following the completion of due diligence checks to authorise the issuance of Bewi shares as consideration for the deal to Jackon Holdings’ controlling shareholder Haas.

South Korea: Hankuk Glass Industries (HGI), a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, has launched a tender offer to acquire the 23% of its shares owned by minority shareholders. As a result of this successful offer, Saint-Gobain, together with HGI, now holds 96.8% of the share capital of HGI, with a delisting planned. HGI manufactures insulation for the construction and automotive markets and glass products for markets in South Korea and Asia.

Germany: Va-Q-Tec is increasing its equity stake in Sumteq, a technology company that develops innovative polymer nanofoams with insulation properties, to expand its portfolio of high-performance products. Va-Q-Tec initially acquired an equity stake in Sumteq in autumn 2015. As technological and sales milestones have been achieved ahead of time, Va-Q-Tec is now supporting Sumteq with further funds for its further development.

Both companies are also linked by a strategic partnership. Joint objectives include the pilot testing and market launch of Sumteq products as a further high-performance insulation material, as well as knowledge exchange on the development and production of nanoporous and mesoporous foams. The strategic partnership offers both companies the possibility to contribute their respective expertise and consequently create added value for their customers.

"As an innovative start-up, Sumteq with its new type of nanofoam possesses a highly interesting and groundbreaking product for many markets. We'll be happy to contribute our expertise to assist its market launch. The Sumteq technology has the potential to fundamentally revolutionise nanocell foam production. We're convinced Sumteq’s nanofoams provide an excellent supplement to our vacuum insulation panels. They fit excellently into our long-term technology roadmap," said Joachim Kuhn, co-founder and CEO of Va-Q-Tec.

Russia: Saint-Gobain has increased its share in the Tambov-based heat insulation producer Isoroc from 74.9% to 100%. The plant's capacity exceeds 100,000t/yr. The French company obtained permission from the Federal Antimonopoly Service to increase its share of Isoroc in late 2015.