Ahlstrom To Purchase Fiberweb's Consumer Wipes Business

Finland-based Ahlstrom Corp. has signed an agreement to purchase London-based Fiberweb plc's consumer wipes business for approximately 65 million euros (US$86.9 million). Fiberweb's consumer wipes business currently produces wiping fabrics used in baby, personal care and household applications. Subject to antitrust clearance, the deal is expected to close before the end of the second quarter of 2007. The acquisition includes four plants - one in Spain, one in the United States and two in Italy - sites that generated 110 million euros (US$147.1 million) in net sales in 2006 and employed 400 people.

 

The deal comes on the heels of Ahlstrom's acquisition of Italy-based Fabriano Filter Media S.p.A. and the Italy-based Orlandi Group's spunlace nonwovens business earlier this year. The company also announced last year that it will invest in a new wiping fabrics production line in Brazil that will be operational early next year. "This acquisition further strengthens Ahlstrom's unique fiber expertise and its versatile technology base," said Claudio Ermondi, senior vice president, Nonwovens, Ahlstrom. "Fiberweb's leading pulp-containing wipes technology allows Ahlstrom to introduce additional properties, such as enhanced softness and increased strength, to its wiping fabrics. This capability combined with Ahlstrom's and Orlandi's pulp-containing technologies positions Ahlstrom as the leading supplier of pulp-containing wipes products."

May/June 2007

 

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