ALPHARETTA, Georgia (From news reports) -- Schweitzer-Mauduit International Inc (SWM) said it has reached agreement to buy Manchester-based wound care Scapa Group in a £403m deal.
The acquisition is expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year.
SWM chief executive, Dr Jeffrey Kramer, said: "We are very excited to announce our proposed acquisition of Scapa, which significantly enhances our position as a leading provider of performance materials for attractive specialty applications.
"Scapa advances our successful valued-added solutions strategy and enhances our ability to solve our customers' toughest innovation challenges by adding a fully integrated model with complementary capabilities.
"These offerings range from adhesive formulations and product design through converting finished products. This transaction also enhances our growth profile, with nearly 65% of our combined revenues generated from growing end-markets."
He added: "We are enthusiastic about adding Scapa's best-in-class global healthcare solutions platform to our already substantial presence, giving SWM immediate critical mass in the growing medical materials space.
"Together with Scapa, we will offer a comprehensive suite of products focused on skin-friendly specialty applications like advanced woundcare, wellness, and medical device fixation, in addition to our existing portfolio of medical products.
"Scapa also brings a robust and profitable set of industrial tapes used in construction, transportation, consumer, and industrial end-markets, complementing our existing business. Like SWM, Scapa has significant capabilities and scale in key specialty applications and a well-recognised brand portfolio."
Heejae Chae, Scapa chief executive, said: "The Scapa team has worked tirelessly to build our brand to be globally recognised as an innovative, solutions-driven partner for outsourced product development and manufacture.
"The expansion into healthcare markets, from our initial focus on the industrials space, has significantly broadened our reach and has brought new strategic partnerships, many of which are with blue chip companies.
"As another multinational producer for outsourced performance materials, SWM has been on a similar journey to us, also extending into healthcare markets having initially been focused on customers in the industrials sector."
He said: "We believe the combination of our complementary businesses will bring benefits to all stakeholders. We see these not only resulting from increased scale, but also from an increased ability to cross-sell products across our respective client bases, as well as an increased potential to enhance inorganic growth from within a larger group.
"We believe the enlarged business will also provide greater career development opportunities for employees."
In November last year Scapa revealed that interims revenues declined 24.1% to £122m in the six months to September 30, and it recorded a pre-tax loss for the six month period of £500,000, compared with a pre-tax profit of £1m the previous year.
Russ Mould, investment director at Manchester investment platform AJ Bell, said: "Those investors who stuck with adhesives and bonding specialist Scapa through the early stages of the pandemic and backed last May's fund raising at 105p could be about to double their money, thanks to a 210p-a-share cash bid from American resins expert Schweitzer-Mauduit.
