Home / News / Teijin acquires automotive composite supplier Inapal

Teijin acquires automotive composite supplier Inapal

29 Aug '18

3 min read

Courtesy: Inapal

Teijin Limited, a technology-driven global group offering advanced solutions in the areas of environmental value, safety, security and disaster mitigation, has announced that it has agreed to acquire Inapal Plasticos SA, a leading automotive composite supplier in Portugal. The shares of Inapal will be purchased by Teijin Holdings Netherlands.

Inapal is a tier one supplier of composite components to the automotive and heavy truck industries. The company’s capabilities include Class A body panels, structural and underbody components using a variety of materials and processes, including sheet moulding compound (SMC), carbon fibre SMC, pre-preg compression moulding (PCM), direct long fibre thermoplastic (D-LFT) and glass mat thermoplastic (GMT). The company has two manufacturing locations in Portugal.

In addition to its automotive and heavy truck business, Inapal supplies components to the heating and cooling industry, as well as passenger seating components to the bus and rail industries. The company had sales of €31.9 million ($37 million) in 2017.

“We are leveraging our lightweight, strong, high-performance materials and integrated composite technologies as one of the key focuses of the transformation strategies for our medium-term management plan,” said Jun Suzuki, president and CEO, Teijin Limited. “The acquisition of Inapal enables us to deliver on our promise to stakeholders to expand our technologies on a global basis, including in Europe. We will seek synergies by leveraging the business capabilities of Continental Structural Plastics (CSP), J.H. Ziegler GmbH (Ziegler) and Inapal to continue to grow as a supplier of multi-material components. It also enables us to demonstrate our commitment to evolve for future society as an enterprise that delivers new value.”

“The addition of Inapal positions CSP well as a global leader in the lightweight composites industry,” said Steve Rooney, CEO of CSP. “With this, we can truly say we are among the world’s largest suppliers of lightweight composite components to the automotive industry, we are strategically located to meet our customers’ needs, and we’re ready for the rapid changes that are taking place in the industry today.”

Teijin expects its automotive composite business sales to reach approximately €1.7 billion ($2 billion) by 2030. The company now has the ability to serve customers in most major regions of the world, including North America, Europe and Asia, and has established business with every major global automotive OEM, said the company in a press release.

Teijin will continue to enhance Inapal’s operations, developing expansion opportunities, investing in growth and creating value for all stakeholders, namely employees, partners and clients.

Following the acquisition of CSP in 2017, Teijin has committed to expand its automotive capabilities globally. Technology developments include Sereebo, the world's first mass-production technology for carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP), and in Europe, TENAX Part via Preform (PvP). CSP’s European facility in France recently announced that it will be installing a sheet moulding compound (SMC) line, making the company’s patented, award-winning composite material technologies readily available to customers in Europe. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

More TEIJIN LIMITED News...