Gabriel-Chemie GmbH has added Italy, Europe's third largest plastics market, to its regional expansion growth. Austria-based Gabriel-Chemie said it has acquired TE.MA, which produces masterbatches and compounds at its facility in Fara Gera d´Adda in the province of Bergamo.
Gabriel-Chemie has a number of key accounts in Italy, but the takeover of TE.MA, which has been renamed Gabriel-Chemie Italia, gives it a subsidiary allowing it to “adopt a nationwide approach to market cultivation,” it said.
The acquisition follows the establishment of Gabriel-Chemie Ibérica in December. With its registered office in Madrid, Spain, Gabriel-Chemie Ibérica will develop the group's business in Spain, Portugal and North Africa. It is also planning to invest in a laboratory and production facilities for color masterbatches.
Afro Palla, founder and managing director of TE.MA, will continue to manage the Italian company under Gabriel-Chemie's ownership. Pall and Gabriel-Chemie have agreed not to disclose the purchase price in the takeover deal.
The Italian business produces color, additive and combination masterbatches as well as technical compounds. “Other areas of specialist expertise include flame protection and stadium seating, which combine to produce excellent synergy with the expertise of the Gabriel-Chemie Group and generate additional growth potential,” said Gabriel-Chemie.
For the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil, TE.MA supplied the flame-retardant polypropylene compound, Temalen FR HF, for the seats of Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro and Mineirão Stadium in Belo Horizonte.
Gabriel-Chemie said the Italian masterbatch market is estimated to have annual demand of more than 120,000 metric tons, and this is expected to increase by 8 percent up to 130,000 tonnes a year by 2019.
Managing director of the Gabriel-Chemie Group, Elisabeth Sommer, said: "Both companies complement each other perfectly, our understanding of strong customer focus and high level of expertise when it comes to finding solutions for complex technical requirements follow the same corporate philosophy."
Gabriel-Chemie has its headquarters in Gumpoldskirchen, Austria, and now has seven subsidiaries in other European countries: Germany, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, Spain and Russia.