Deceuninck North America LLC is stepping away from the decking and railing market.
The Monroe, Ohio, extruder sold its business called Clubhouse to The Tapco Group of Wixom, Mich., for an undisclosed sum. The plan going forward is to put all focus on the vinyl and fiberglass window and door operation, according to Deceuninck President and CEO Filip Geeraert.
“The divesture of the Clubhouse decking and railing business enables Deceuninck to apply even more of its collective energy to innovating and growing the core fenestration business,” Geeraert said in a press release.
The company says sales have increased by double digits for the last three years and Deceuninck products now are in 6 million U.S. homes. To keep up with demand in the West, construction started last fall on a $22.5 million, 150,000-square foot facility in Fernely, Nev., where one the first products will be a pultruded, multi-pane, slide-and-swing patio door.
Geeraert also said Deceuninck's former decking and railing unit is a good addition for The Tapco Group and he predicts it “will flourish in its new home.”
Tapco manufacturers a wide array of building products, including siding, trim, tool systems, shutters and siding accessories. The company's Kleer decking line is made of capped cellular PVC and competes against wood and composite wood products.
Deceuninck is part of the publicly-traded, Belgium-based Deceuninck Group, which posted sales of $710.8 million (644.5 million euros) in 2015, according to financial results released Feb. 25. That's an increase of 16.6 percent.
The growth was supported by “a more positive economic environment” in the U.S., United Kingdom and southern Europe, according to CEO Tom Debusschere, who will step down on March 1.
Deceuninck named Francis Van Eeckhout as interim CEO.
Deceuninck was ranked 38th among North American pipe, profile and tubing extruders, according to the latest Plastics News ranking, with PPT sales of $110 million.