Ratos will have 80% and Perlos 20% of the new company
Perlos is planning to sell a majority stake in its healthcare business to Swedish private equity group Ratos.
The Finnish plastics group had been building its medical moulding business in recent years as a means of diversification from the telecoms manufacturing sector, which had been hit hard in Europe.
Perlos has now announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Ratos to create a new company, in which Perlos will have a 20% shareholding. All of Perlos' healthcare business unit's current business assets, including the production facilities in Kontiolahti, Finland and Sunderland, UK, will be sold to the new company.
The cash and debt free purchase price of the Perlos healthcare business by the new company will be E67m. In 2005, the unit’s net sales were E52.6m and it employs around 500 people.
No redundancies are planned as a result of the transaction, said Jari Laaninen, Perlos’ vp of treasury and investor relations.
Perlos is in the middle of restructuring its telecoms moulding business, a process which has involved the closure of the Ylöjärvi plant in Finland. When all redundancies are completed next year, the company’s cost base will be a lot lower, said Laaninen.
The telecoms market is showing good growth, he said, and Perlos has been establishing manufacturing bases in lower cost locations, like China and India.
