Insulation industry news from Global Insulation
European Commission clears acquisition of URSA by Xella
06 October 2017Europe/Spain: The European Commission has approved, under the European Union (EU) merger regulation, the acquisition of Spanish insulation producer URSA by Germany’s Xella. The commission concluded that the acquisition would raise no competition concerns because of the limited overlaps between the activities of the companies. The deal was first announced in August 2017 and it is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.
URSA to be bought by Xella International
08 August 2017Spain: Spanish insulation firm URSA is to be sold by investment firm KKR to Germany’s Xella International GmbH. The sale is subject to the approval of the relevant competition authorities and is expected to be closed by the end of 2017. No value for the deal has been disclosed to date.
“We are looking forward to becoming part of the Xella Group,” said URSA CEO Pepyn Dindant. “Xella is a very successful company in the building materials industry and deeply understands our markets, customer needs and products. This will give us important impulses for our profitable growth strategy that we will keep on implementing with high priority and strong client focus.”
“Especially in recent years, URSA has delivered outstanding performance,” said Dr Jochen Fabritus, CEO of Xella Group. “We highly appreciate what URSA’s executives and employees have achieved and are looking forward to welcoming them as part of the Xella family. Consequently, URSA will become an independent business unit to continue its successful development. Xella will support URSA with all measures that are appropriate to achieve further profitable growth.”
Xella says that, while URSA will operate as an independent business unit focused on the specific needs of its clients in the insulation sector, there are various areas in which both companies will benefit from each other. URSA completes Xella’s portfolio of mineral-based building materials, creating opportunities to combine products of the new brand into innovative solutions. Also, in terms of size, geographical spread and management structure, URSA is very similar to Xella’s existing business units, allowing for a fast and smooth integration process.
Coemac completes sale of insulation division to KKR
23 September 2015Spain: Coemac, which was previously known as Uralita SA, has completed the sale of its insulation division to financial creditors led by KKR, an American multinational private equity company. Financial creditors acquired 90% of URSA Insulation Holding BV, while Coemac kept a 10% stake, according to Reuters.
Uralita appoints new CEO
22 May 2015Spain: Uralita has appointed Javier Gonzalez as its new CEO after former CEO Javier Serratosa stepped down as a result of a debt refinancing agreement.
The refinancing contract granted private equity company KKR Fund control over the majority of the capital of Uralita's insulation subsidiary Ursa, which generated approximately 70% of the company's consolidated revenue in 2014. Serratosa, who continues to maintain a stake in Uralita, will thus assume the presidency of Ursa, in which Uralita will continue to hold a 10% stake. Uralita additionally reinforced its executive team through the appointment of Gonzalo Serratosa as vice president.
Uralita takes Euro320m loan to grow insulation business
29 April 2013Spain: Spanish construction group Uralita has taken a Euro320m seven-year loan to expand its European insulation business. The group formalised the agreement with KKR Asset Management to gain financial stability and expand the business. The agreement will allow the development of the pan-European insulation business of its branch company URSA Insulation.
"Uralita considers that this transaction provides the group with long-term financial stability, shows the Company's growth potential and will facilitate continued growth in the next years," commented Javier Serratosa, Uralita's president.
Uralita announces annual loss of Euro27m
28 June 2012Spain: Uralita SA has released financial results for the 2011 calendar year, which show a net loss of Euro27.1m. The gypsum wallboard and insulation materials producer also saw sales drop to Euro676m from Euro683m year-on-year, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation down by 65% from Euro78.9m in 2010 to just Euro26.9m. The group's revenue was also down marginally, to Euro690.8m, a drop of just 0.2%.
The Spanish construction market remains in the doldrums amid the continued Eurozone debt crisis, drastically reducing demand for gypsum, insulation and the other building materials that Uralita produces. Uralita SA has released financial results for the 2011 calendar year, which show a net loss of Euro27.1m. The gypsum wallboard and insulation materials producer also saw sales drop to Euro676m from Euro683m year-on-year, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation down from by 65% from Euro78.9m in 2010 to just Euro26.9m. The group's revenue was also down marginally, to Euro690.8m, a drop of just 0.2%.
The Spanish construction market remains in the doldrums amid the continued Eurozone debt crisis, drastically reducing demand for gypsum, insulation and the other building materials that Uralita produces.
Mineral wool to blame for fires at solar plants
20 April 2012Spain: Renewable energy advisory firm Renovetec has conducted research into fires at a number of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in Spain. According to the company, mineral wool used to line the piping containing the heat transfer fluid (HTF) in these plants' solar fields is to blame.
"On occasions the causes of the fires have been unclear," explains Santiago García Garrido, Technical Director of Renovetec. "The HTF has behaved differently to the specifications on its safety sheet".
Renovetec has published an article on its work which examines the relationship between the thermal insulation used to line heat transfer piping and the fires, after the company managed to reproduce the conditions leading to certain fires under laboratory conditions. The tests performed by Renovetec show that the thermal insulation can ignite at below 200°C, whereby there is a risk of spontaneous combustion even if there is no ignition spark or other ignition source.
"This explains some of the incidents at a number of CSP plants," says the company especially given that the ignition point of the HTF generally used in CSP plants (biphenyl and diphenyl oxide) is 615°C – a temperature which is highly unlikely to be reached anywhere on site.
Witnesses of some of the fires recall that the incidents arose when some of the HTF escaped from the piping installed in the solar field soaking the thermal insulation (which is normally mineral wool) covered by an aluminium jacket. On removing the aluminium jacket, the mineral wool occasionally ignited spontaneously. These fires started despite the technical specifications of the HTF manufactured by Dow Chemical and Solutia indicating that the fluid would not ignite.
The outcome of Renovetec's experiment to reproduce the conditions leading to the fires is conclusive: on certain occasions the point of spontaneous combustion is not as reflected in the safety sheets of these HTF, with the liquid igniting at temperatures below 203°C.