Kingspan acquisitions exceed €620m in 2017

Kingspan, the insulation group, said on Friday that it had committed more than €620 million to 10 acquisitions so far this year, including three purchases that it had not previously announced.

The largest of these is the planned purchase of Barcelona-based Synthesia group in a deal worth €250 million, giving Kingspan a “leading position in both insulated panels and insulation boards on the Iberian peninsula”, the Cavan-based group said in a statement. The Spanish group had €275 million of sales last year.

Kingspan has also agreed to buy Polish insulation company Balek Metal, which had revenues of €160 million in 2016, as well as Brakel Group, a Dutch company involved in daylight access, fire safety and ventilation solutions for buildings, which is expected to generate a turnover of €300 million this year.

“The latest three acquisitions mark a significant strategic step forward for Kingspan,” said group chief executive Gene Murtagh. “They are a perfect fit for our existing businesses and geographic footprint and, in addition, provide a technology platform that will complement our ongoing innovation pipeline and the development of next generation insulation.”

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Kingspan also said on Friday that it had secured €225 million of financing by way of a private placement of €175 million in loan notes with an average maturity of 8.5 years and annual interest rate of 1.57 per cent, as well as a €50 million negotiated bilateral facility.

The money will help fund the latest acquisitions as well as “further strategic development”, the company said.

The market value of Kingspan has risen more than 40 per cent so far this year to €6.6 billion. Shares in the group have recovered in recent weeks from a wobble in the middle of November, as it accompanied the publication of a solid set of figures for the first nine months of the year by confirming evidence of UK slowdown and indicating that full-year profits would be lower than market expectations.