Maax Inc. has expanded its bathware presence into Europe by acquiring SaniNova BV. SaniNova, based in Heinenoord, Netherlands, will have sales of about 45 million Dutch guilders ($19.7 million) this fiscal year, predicted Maax of Ste. Marie de Beauce, Quebec. It produces shower trays, bathtubs, whirlpools and other products from acrylic sheet backed by fiberglass composite, similar to Maax's main product lines.
Maax completed the deal Feb. 23, said Marie-France Poulin, the firm's vice president of sales and marketing. It plans to make further acquisitions in Europe.
Poulin said the two firms complement each other, allowing each to adapt the other's product styles to their respective markets. Acrylic bathware is widely used in Europe, as it is in Canada, and is becoming increasingly common in the United States, she said in a telephone interview. SaniNova and Maax both use extensive automation in bathware production.
SaniNova spent about C$1 million (US$690,000) last year to double production capacity and expand floor space. It sells mainly to do-it-yourself chains, plumbing wholesalers and importers in Netherlands, Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom. With its extra capacity it plans to grow into other European countries this year.
Maax operates 21 plants in North America. With the SaniNova acquisition it predicts its sales for the current fiscal year will grow to C$535 million (US$369.2 million).
Maax employs more than 2,750, not including SaniNova's staff of 55.