Acquisitions

New important acquisitions for Andritz

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The Austrian Andritz announces that it has signed a purchase agreement with Xerium Technologies, a company in the United States with its headquarters in Youngsville, North Carolina.

Andritz will purchase Xerium for 13.50 dollars cash per share, in a transaction worth about 833 million dollars, including net financial liabilities of about 590 million. Xerium’s ordinary shares are quoted on the New York Stock Exchange under the abbreviation XRM.

The agreement, approved unanimously by Xerium’s Board of Directors, is subject to approval by Xerium’s shareholders and to satisfying the customary closing conditions. The shareholders who represent about 20% of Xerium’s ordinary shares in circulation have entered into an agreement to vote in favour of the merger. The closure is anticipated for the second half of 2018.

Xerium is a manufacturer and global supplier of forming fabrics, press felts, drying fabrics and roll covers for paper, tissue and cardboard machines, including maintenance and post-sales assistance services. With its smart technology, the company supplies a sophisticated digital software tool to optimise compression performance using sensors integrated into the tops of the rollers.

Xerium has about 2,850 employees and manages more than 28 production plants worldwide, including one site in Gloggnitz, in Austria. In 2017, the company generated an annual turnover of 481 million dollars and an EBITDA of 85 million. «With Xerium we shall acquire a highly technological global supplier which supplies essential services and wear and tear parts to the paper industry», states Wolfgang Leitner, president and CEO of Andritz.«The acquisition fits perfectly into our long-term strategy for carrying out additional acquisitions and increasing or aftermarket business with its steady source of revenue and profits».

From America to Italy

The Andritz technological group has also acquired a 70% shareholding in Diatec srl, an Italian company manufacturing converters for the hygiene and food packaging industry, with its headquarters in Collecorvino, in the province of Pescara, in Abruzzo. The remaining 30% will stay in the hands of the two current families of shareholders.

Diatec designs and manufactures a vast range of special machines and technological solutions, mainly for the production of nappies for children and other hygiene products, but also for food packaging. With this acquisition, Andritz completes its portfolio of products and is now able to offer a full supply and value chain, from raw materials, to webforming, to finish and conversion.

The owners and managers of Diatec, who will continue to work in the company, recognise that Andritz is the best partner to sustain the long-term growth of the company and, together with the employees and suppliers, to create a synergy able to meet the requirements of its own customers.