Norwegian - Finnish merger creates a leading player on the Nordic EPS market

Oslo/Helsinki — A merger between Norwegian family business BEWi AS and Verdane ETF III portfolio company StyroChem Finland Oy forms one of Scandinavia’s more significant players in the EPS market for building insulation and packaging. In connection with the merger, the new company BEWi Group acquires two units from the UK packaging giant DS Smith PLC; Danish Flamingo and DS Smith’s Swedish cellplast business in Värnamo and Urshult.

Christian Bekken is CEO of BEWi Group and was previously CEO of the family business BEWi AS: “This is a very sound business opportunity, that fits our growth philosophy and strengthens our market position. StyroChem is and will continue to be our main supplier of EPS raw material. We have enjoyed a long and very good cooperation and during conversations with StyroChem and its owner Verdane Capital this opportunity gradually evolved. And today I’m very happy that we were able to come all the way. EPS is our core business and a material with amazing properties. We see great opportunities to develop the market both in the building insulation and packaging areas. But we also see direct coordination benefits not least on the transportation side with both economic and environmental rewards.

Verdane Capital will hold an important share of the new company. So looking further ahead, Verdane Capital with its long-term approach and financial muscle combined with the entrepreneurial qualities that have made BEWi what we are today open up very interesting possibilities. With a close eye on cost efficiency and very competitive products, we are building a future as a leading player in the Nordic EPS market.”

The entities included in the new BEWi Group have a combined estimated turnover pre-merger in 2014 of about €190 million. But Göran Wikström, former Chairman of Verdane Capital-owned StyroChem and now in the same position in BEWi Group expects higher sales already this year: “These are four solid companies with sound financials and excellent market positions. And we see significant synergies, including that we through the merger will have access to the entire production chain, from raw material to finished product. It also allows us to further strengthen our customer focus.”

The new BEWi Group includes the following entities:

BEWi StyroChem: commodity production in one facility in Finland.
BEWi ThermiSol: product manufacturing in four facilities in Sweden.
BEWi Packaging: packaging producer in two facilities in Sweden.
BEWi Flamingo: packaging producer in four facilities in Denmark.

BEWi Holding Norge is not a part of BEWi Group and will continue to be a separate company including the following entities: BEWi Produkter, BEWi Polar and BEWi Norrplasta.

This is a very sound business opportunity, that fits our growth philosophy and strengthens our market position. StyroChem is and will continue to be our main supplier of EPS raw material. We have enjoyed a long and very good cooperation and during conversations with StyroChem and its owner Verdane Capital this opportunity gradually evolved.

Press contacts

Christian Bekken, CEO
BEWi Group
christian.bekken@bewi.com
+47 905 51 141

Göran Wikström, Chairman
BEWi Group
goranwikstrom@telia.com
+46 70 645 9707