Ireland: Private equity firm Waterland Ireland has invested in Industrial Insulation Specialists and fellow insulation systems supplier Secon Construction Services. RTÉ News has reported that the companies will form a combined entity, retaining both companies’ existing leadership teams, under John Naughton as CEO.

Waterland partner Donal Mac Nioclais noted the companies’ potential for organic expansion, saying that "Their work sits at the heart of mission-critical infrastructure across sectors where Ireland and Europe continue to see significant long-term investment, including life sciences, data centres, energy and semiconductor manufacturing."

Austria/Belgium: Austrotherm has entered exclusive negotiations to acquire Etex’s Ursa extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation business. The business consists of the Bondeno plant in Italy, the El Pla plant in Spain, the Queis plant Germany and the Saint-Avold plant in France.

Etex says that it will now ‘refocus its insulation business’ on glass wool insulation.

South Korea: Researchers at Jeonbuk National University have developed a biodegradable thermal insulation composite from porous biochar derived from spent coffee grounds, according to a paper submitted to the Biochar journal. The team combined the biochar, pre-mixed in water, ethanol and propylene glycol, with a biodegradable ethyl cellulose matrix. The resulting composite recorded a thermal conductivity of 0.04W/m·K, comparable to commercial expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation.

US: GMS has acquired fellow construction products distributor Evergreen Building Products. Evergreen Building Products’ product range includes exterior insulation and finish systems. This will become part of GMS’ exterior cladding offering. M&A Navigator News has reported that Evergreen Building Products operates four locations in Washington, serving commercial and residential customers across Washington, Idaho and Oregon.