Colbond Announces Aquisition by British Yarns and Fabrics Specialist Low & Bonar

On July 7, 2006, the UK public listed company Low & Bonar PLC announced the proposed acquisition of Colbond Investments bv. The acquisition is subject to shareholder approval at an Extraordinary General Meeting scheduled for July 24, 2006. Low & Bonar is a specialist flooring and technical textile group. Colbond has leading positions in several of its non-woven markets, which are different from, but complementary to those served by Low & Bonar’s Yarns & Fabrics division. The acquisition will offer increased market access for Colbond products through the Chinese sales infrastructure of Low & Bonar, and Colbond’s US infrastructure will offer in turn access to new market opportunities. Low & Bonar is operating from the divisions Yarns & Fabrics and Floors. Because of the similarity of the product groups and possible synergy effects, Colbond will operate within the Yarns & Fabrics division.
“We are very pleased with this acquisition”, says Jan van Boldrik, CEO of Colbond. “The strategy of Colbond and the approach of the Yarns & Fabrics operation of Low & Bonar complement one another to a great extent. Both companies supply specialty products for niche applications and have a clear focus on their core competencies.For Colbond, the acquisition paves the way for further long-term growth and continuity with increased resources for investment into profitable developments and promising innovation processes. At the same time, the transaction widens the scope for our workforce and represents an opportunity to gain additional expertise in new product and application segments.
We expect our current and future customers to benefit from the integration of Colbond in the enlarged group. Most obvious of course is the continued focus on high-quality products and services and the drive for process development in line with customer demands. But also the now even increased worldwide presence of Colbond as a member of Low & Bonar will represent a major advantage for our customers and partners in the respective markets. Against the background of the aforementioned benefits, we are looking forward to our future in the Bonar group.”