Slovenia: Recticel’s insulation division has entered into a production joint venture with Turna by acquiring 50% of the shares of its affiliate Turvac. Turvac is located in Šoštanj and it specialises in the production of vacuum insulation panels (VIP). Recticel Insulation will commercialize VIPs for niche applications in the construction market and Turna will focus on sales to the household appliances markets. This new technology allows Recticel Insulation to enhance its products portfolio and to strengthen its position in high performance insulation solutions for the European building market.

Netherlands: Arkema has completed its acquisition of Den Braven, a producer of sealants for insulation and construction. Together with Arkema’s subsidiary Bostik, the purchase adds to the group’s presence in the sealant market around the world. The takeover is expected to add synergies of at least Euro30m.

"We are pleased to welcome the Den Braven teams. Their state-of-the-art technologies, first-class industrial facilities and know-how widely recognized by their customers are all assets that we will continue to develop and build upon within Bostik. We are confident that this new growth platform will support our very strong ambition in adhesives," said Vincent Legros, Executive Vice President of Bostik, a subsidiary of Arkema.

UK: TechnoNicol International plants to use Stirling-based Superglass to launch an expansion programme in the US and to develop its market in the UK and Ireland. TechnoNicol has created a new division at the company it purchased in July 2016 to achieve this aim and has made senior appointments to support it. The company aims to establish a ‘significant’ market share in North America over the next five years.

Ken Munro, Superglass’s chief executive officer, has become chief executive officer of TechnoNicol (UK, Ireland and USA). In this newly created role, Munro will have responsibility for the management and coordination of TechnoNicol’s presence in these regions and will continue to lead and develop the Superglass business as it is incorporated into this expanded structure.

Munro will also have responsibility for the global development of the Superglass brand as it begins to play a part in TechnoNicol’s overall insulation products strategy. As further businesses are developed, both organically and by acquisition, they will be integrated into this unified regional structure, with new jobs likely to be created in Stirling as the regional headquarters takes shape.

Stuart Rowell, who is currently Group Business Development Director at Superglass, and Girts Dikelsons, currently Regional Director TechnoNicol (UK and USA), will be responsible for sales and marketing activity across all product lines in the new region and are appointed as Regional Sales Director (Insulation Solutions) and Regional Sales Director (Bitumen Membrane Solutions) respectively.

Theresa McLean, Superglass’s Chief Financial Officer, has been appointed as chief financial officer of TechnoNicol (UK, Ireland and USA) and Mark Atherton, Operations Director at Superglass, becomes Chief Production Officer and Head of Operations for the newly expanded regional business. Rowell, Dikelsons, McLean, and Atherton will all report directly to Ken Munro.

France: Cement sector multinational LafargeHolcim has launched Airium, a mineral insulation foam. The product was developed at the group’s research and development centre near Lyon. Airium will target thermal insulation markets in Austria, France and Morocco. Later it will focus on North America and other European and North African countries.

Airium is being launched for the filling of concrete blocks in France and Austria and for roof terraces in Morocco. LafargeHolcim say that the insulation of concrete blocks with Airium makes it possible to build and insulate at the same time, saving construction time and space.

“With the launch of Airium, LafargeHolcim demonstrates once again its ability to rethink construction practices in order to continue delivering innovation,” said Gérard Kuperfarb, Group Head of Growth & Innovation at LafargeHolcim. The development of Airium is in line with the commitments of LafargeHolcim’s 2030 Plan to generate one third of its revenue from a portfolio of products and services with enhanced sustainability performance.