International technology company Continental is planning to further improve its industrial business and open up new sales market in North America for its surface specialist subsidiary, Benecke-Kaliko. As part of this strategy, the company has agreed to acquire the Hornschuch Group.
Benecke-Kaliko AG, part of the ContiTech division of the Continental Corporation, develops and manufactures surface materials for passenger and commercial vehicles, the off-highway sector, and other important industries at seven locations in Germany, China, Mexico, Poland, and Spain, and operates 16 international sales offices in North and South America, Asia, and Europe. The company achieved sales of approximately EUR550 million in 2015.
The acquisition consistently and sustainably strengthens the company’s global business outside the automotive industry as Hornschuch generates more than half of its sales with industrial applications, said Hans-Jürgen Duensing, member of the Continental Executive Board and CEO of ContiTech AG.
Based in Weißbach, Germany, the Hornschuch Group is one of the leading manufacturers of design, functional and compact films, foam laminates, and artificial leather for industrial applications (furniture and construction industry), and for the automotive sector.
With more than 1,800 employees at four production sites in Germany and the US, Hornschuch generated EUR410 million in sales for the 2015 fiscal year.
According to Dr. Dirk Leiß, CEO of Benecke-Kaliko AG, the Hornschuch Group purchase is the largest acquisition in the company’s history. “The Hornschuch Group’s well-established international sales network will also help us to reach customers for our products in areas where our profile is currently not as strong,” Leiß added.
Hornschuch is to be integrated into Benecke-Kaliko. The corporation is able to finance the acquisition entirely from its own liquid assets and available lines of credit.
Completion of the acquisition is subject to the approval of the respective antitrust authorities.