Binani Industries acquires Belgian fibreglass company 3B, for Rs1,781 crore

Cement maker, Binani Industries Limited (BIL), the holding company of the $1.6-billion Kolkata-based Braj Binani Group, yesterday acquired Belgian fibreglass company 3B, for €275 million (Rs1,781 crore).

Binani, whose interests range from cement, zinc, glass fibre, composites and ready-mix concrete, is buying 3B from private equity investment firm Platinum Equity, which had acquired 3B in 2008 from Ohio-based Owens Corning, the world's largest manufacturer of fiberglass and related products.

California-based Platinum Equity acquired two European facilities in Battice, Belgium and Birkeland, Norway and intellectual property and other assets of Owens for €155 million including debt and named the company 3B.

The purchase is Binani's third acquisition in six years, the last being the January 2011 acquisition of Winona, Minnesota-based Composite Products Inc, a manufacturer of inline compounding and molding of thermoplastic composites.

Based in Battice, Belgium, 3B is a European leader in the production of fiberglass composite materials and is a supplier to global leaders in the automotive, wind energy. electrical, electronics, marine, infrastructure and transportation.

It has an extensive portfolio of products including chopped strands, direct rovings, continuous filament mats and milled fibers. The company operates two unique and high performance glass technologies, Advantex and HiPer-tex. Advantex, a registered trademark of Owens Corning, is being used under license by 3B.