Recticel sells Eurofoam stake to Greiner, jv's auto business

Brussels – Recticel has sold its half of the Eurofoam JV to partner Greiner and, separately, joint ventured its automotive interiors business. 

Olivier Chapelle, CEO said: 'Both transactions are essential and transformative steps.' He added that the moves simplify Recticel's structure. 

Greiner first publicly expressed an interest in owning all of Eurofoam when it appeared as a third party in Kingspan's abortive bid for Recticel in April last year. 

Recticel and Greiner formed a joint venture in 1992 to make flexible foams in Eastern Europe. It was extended in 1997 when both companies added their businesses in Germany and Austria. The JV had sales of around EUR 400m in 2019 and employed 2100 people.

Axel Kuhner, Greiner's CEO, said the purchase would make his company 'able to both further strengthen our global competence in the foam segment and push even harder for future expansion'.

Recticel has been trying to sell the automotive interiors business since March 2018.  It has now transferred the business to a new holding company in which it has 49% ownership. The remainder belongs to Admetos an investment company. In the agreement Admetos can force Recticel to sell its stake, or Recticel can force Admetos to buy its stake after March 2024. The price will depend on the business EBITDA.

Automotive interiors employs 1400 people it has five sites in China, two in the Czech Republic and two in the US. Sales were EUR 183.5m in 2019.

Overall, Recticel will gain EUR 120m in cash from both deals.