Japan's Sekisui Plastics Co. Ltd. is taking majority ownership of automotive seating supplier Proseat GmbH + Co. KG in a deal that will see current joint venture partner Recticel Group buy out one partner before selling 75 percent interest to Sekisui.
The deal announced in late 2018 will see original Proseat partner Woodbridge Foam Corp. completely step away from the molder of urethane foam and expanded polypropylene products.
Proseat first opened in 1999 as a JV between Belgium-based Recticel and Canadian Woodbridge, with Woodbridge holding 49 percent of the operation.
As part of its divestment plan, Recticel will first buy out Woodbridge, then sell 75 percent ownership to Sekisui. Sekisui plans to eventually buy out the rest of Recticel's holdings to take full ownership of Proseat.
In a news release, Recticel CEO Olivier Chapelle said that Sekisui offers Proseat "clear customer and product portfolio complementaries. We are confident that it will create exciting opportunities for Proseat ... in the future."
Proseat is based in Morfelden, Germany, and owns eight plants in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic. The factories supply PU molded seat components as well as head- and arm-rests. In 2017, Proseat reported sales of 291 million euros ($330.4 million).
