Linatex acquired by Asian investment company
SPECIALITY rubber company Linatex have been acquired by Navis Capital Partners, one of Asia’s best-known private equity fund managers with an investment strategy of taking over industry leaders in well-established industries.
Navis, who completed the purchase in October last year, are committed to increasing investment to strengthen Linatex’s global position and say they intend to leverage Linatex’s product and technical capabilities around the world to accelerate growth into new markets.
Linatex have a well-established brand in the European minerals-processing sector, as well as market leading positions in the UK, Australia and South Africa across a range of products including sheet rubber, moulded parts, and process equipment such as pumps, cyclones and screens.
Commenting on the acquisition, Nicholas Bloy, director of Navis Capital Partners, said Navis had recognized Linatex’s diverse product capability backed by years of proven market knowledge and technical capability.
‘Under new ownership and with focused shareholder leadership, Linatex can improve their strategic, operational and financial performance for the benefit of all stakeholders in the company,’ he said.
Bruce Cooke, Linatex’s European general manager, described the acquisition as ‘a very positive new chapter in the history of Linatex’, and said the company were looking forward to further improving their products and solutions under new ownership.
New market initiatives are already under way to penetrate deeper into Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, where demand for Linatex products is already established and sales are reported to be growing year on year.
