Acquisition to offer construction opportunities for 2012 Olympics.
Polypipe is buying Geberit’s PVC piping business in the UK for £42.5m in a deal which takes effect at the beginning of July. Last year, the business, which employs 170 people, turned over some £25m.
The acquisition covers the entire production and storage facilities at Aylesford, in Kent, the PVC sales team in the UK and the Terrain brand, the leading name in the UK commercial PVC drainage market, Geberit says.
According to Polypipe chief executive David Hall, buying the well established Terrain business will significantly expand the Doncaster-based group’s presence in commercial piping as well as penetrating the professional, and contractor and engineer base.
Hall adds: “The acquisition of the Terrain business will give Polypipe opportunity to develop further in the growing commercial building sector, especially in light of the forthcoming construction associated with the 2012 Olympics.”
With the UK sale, the Swiss Geberit Group completes the divestment of its entire non-core PVC activities, having sold its underground piping systems business at the end of 2005. In future, its UK activity will focus on distribution of its own product range.
The Aylesford site, near Maidstone, is a well invested facility featuring both extrusion and injection moulding activities. Polypipe will give more details of its plans once the deal has been completed, PRW.com was told this morning.
