Kingspan buys MeTecno

Kingspan, County Cavan, Ireland, has completed the acquisition of MeTecno Inc., a holding company for the MeTecno businesses in the United States, from MeTecno BV, a subsidiary of the MeTecno Group, a global manufacturer of composite sandwich panels. The agreement is unconditional. MeTecno, operating under the ASI (Deland, Fla.), API (Modesto, Calif.) and Benchmark (Columbus, Ohio) brands, is the second largest manufacturer of composite sandwich panels in the U.S. MeTecno also comprises of a leading architectural metal wall and roof panel profile business, operating under the Morin brand, from two sites in Connecticut and California. According to Kingspan the acquisition gives the company “critical mass in the United States, and when combined with existing Canadian market leadership, gives unrivalled geographical market reach in North America at a time when demand for insulation products is expected to increase due to economic and regulatory pressures.” Greg Murtagh, Kingspan CEO, commented: “The acquisition of MeTecno represents an excellent opportunity for Kingspan to assume a market leading position in one of the largest construction markets in the world. We believe that the long-term opportunity should more than offset the current economic conditions in this market. When MeTecno is combined with its existing businesses in Canada, Kingspan has developed a very powerful and influential position in the North American market. Kingspan’s North American panel business now has six major facilities capable of serving the entire continent and significant available capacity in each. While composite panels have traditionally occupied only a very small position in the North American market, we believe that a combination of environmental and energy cost pressures, together with a strong market leader, can pave the way for a growing penetration of this product range in the medium term.”