Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US/Canada: Armacell International SA, which produces flexible insulation foams for the equipment insulation market, has completed the acquisition of Industrial Thermo Polymers Limited (ITP), a producer of extruded polyethylene (EPS) foam products in North America.

"We are pleased and excited to welcome the employees of ITP into the Armacell family," said Thomas Himmel, vice president of the Americas and engineered foams for Armacell. "The acquisition of ITP supports our strategy to expand our manufacturing capability of polyethylene foam products. The Brampton facility will be the base for our future investment into the manufacture of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) foam in North America."

ITP was founded in 1980 and maintains headquarters in Toronto, Canada. Under the brand name Tundra, it manufactures self-sealing pipe insulation, insulating foam filler and water toys. In 2014, ITP generated US$23.5m in revenue.

US: Installed Building Products has reported strong results for both the fourth quarter of 2014 and the entire 2014 year.

"The positive momentum in our business continued through the fourth quarter of 2014, resulting in solid growth in our net revenue and profitability for the full year of 2014," stated Jeff Edwards, chairman and CEO. "In the fourth quarter, we were especially pleased with our 21.7% increase in net revenue which resulted in another quarter of significant operating leverage. Into 2015, we expect housing completions to continue improving at a steady pace and we are energised by our prospects to continue scaling our business in a disciplined manner to further expand our national network of attractively positioned branch locations."

Installed Building Products' fourth quarter 2014 net revenue increased by 21.7% year-on-year to US$145m. Its branch sales increased by 16.2% year-on-year due to higher volume, price gains and a more favourable customer and product mix. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 65.3% year-on-year to US$15.2m. Its operating income rose by 105% year-on-year to US$9.3m.

In the entirety of 2014, Installed Building Products' revenue increased by 19.9% year-on-year to US$518m. Branch sales increased by 16.4%, with approximately 75% of the increase due to growth in the number of completed jobs and the remainder achieved through price gains and a more favourable customer and product mix. Adjusted EBITDA improved by 73.6% to US$44m.

US: Installed Building Products Inc has acquired BDI Insulation (BDI) for an aggregate purchase price of about US$36m. Funding for the acquisition is being provided by availability under the company's line of credit and cash on hand.

China: Zotefoams, which produces cellular material technology, has entered into a new venture with China's King Lai Group to manufacture and sell insulation products. The new venture will be called ZOTEK King Lai (ZKL).

Zotefoams and King Lai have a previous long-standing relationship for the sale of T-Tubes in China. Building on the success of T-Tubes clean-room insulation products for biotech, pharmaceutical and semiconductor plants, ZKL will offer a local supply to the market in China and a more rapid response to other markets including Asia, India and the Middle East.

ZKL is owned 51% by Zotefoams and 49% by King Lai. Manufacturing will be located in King Lai's plant in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, China. The manufacturing of products made from Zotefoams' ZOTEK foam materials is expected to begin in the second half of 2015. Sales activity in China will be the direct responsibility of ZKL, using King Lai as the exclusive distributor, while all sales to customers outside China will be the responsibility of Zotefoams Operations Ltd in Thailand.

"I am delighted to extend our relationship with King Lai. Its commitment to operational excellence and strong position in products for clean-room markets make King Lai an ideal partner to accelerate the development of our unique materials," said David Stirling, managing director of Zotefoams.

US: Johns Manville (JM) has announced plans to expand the capacity at its Scottsboro, Alabama, thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) plant. The state-of-the-art TPO plant was first opened in October 2008. JM will complete the expansion in April 2015, increasing its total TPO production capacity by 20%.

JM's TPO formulation has remained unchanged since its launch and has proven to be durable under real-world conditions of heat and ultra-violet (UV) exposure. "Commercial Roofers Inc began installing TPO more than 10 years ago. We have found it to be installer-friendly and energy compliant. It has a long, useful life expectancy and is cost effective. This provides great benefits for the building owner," said Scott Howard, president of Commercial Roofers Inc.