SCHAFFHAUSEN, SWITZERLAND — Global pipe systems group Georg Fischer has announced it is purchasing a majority stake in Hakan Plastik, a leading supplier of plastic pipes to the growing markets of Turkey, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Family-run Hakan Plastik, based in Cerkezköy, Turkey, operates two plants supplying pipe systems for the building technology, water and gas distribution markets as well as for agricultural irrigation. It employs 650 and last year recorded turnover worth 84.3 million euros.
The deal, for an undisclosed sum, gives Georg Fischer of Schaffhausen, Switzerland an option of later acquiring the remaining shares in the Turkish firm.
Hakan's current management team will remain in place under the current owners "to guarantee the continuity of the company's successful operation and to execute the significant synergies with Georg Fischer," the Swiss buyer stated.
The transaction, being handled by the group's plastic pipe division, GF Piping Systems, is due to be completed in July.
Hakan's main plant is located in Cerkezköy, and the firm only opened a unit in Anatolia, Turkey, last year.
Formed in 1965 by the Karadeniz family, Hakan began exporting in the 1990s and today sells to 70 countries. It was restructured in 2002 to accelerate investment in infrastructure and agricultural pipe at its single plant.
With 5,000 employees, GF Piping Systems generated annual sales in 2012 of around 1.2 billion euros from business in over 100 countries worldwide. The parent group, with annual sales of almost 2.9 billion euros, also serves the automotive and tool and mold making sectors.