SO.F.TER. announces the acquisition of PGroup in administration (www.p-group.biz), an Italian company based in Ferrara and specialized in the production of Engineering Plastics for the automotive and industrial sectors. The acquisition has been carried out through the subsidiary SO.F.TER. Tecnopolimeri Srl after completion of the voluntary arrangement procedure started by PGroup in 2010.

SO.F.TER. already took over PGroup through a leasing contract in April 2010: since then the management of the two companies has been working in close cooperation and succeeded in meeting all obligations towards customers and creditors and in preserving PGroup employment level.

“The acquisition of PGroup represents a significant step forward in our growth strategy and allows us to rank among the top three independent compounders in Europe in terms of volumes, with 120,000 tons projected sales for 2011” said Stefano Zocca, Managing Director of SO.F.TER. “The first and most important result of this operation is a remarkable increase of the business with Germany, where the SOF.TER. Group strengthened its presence, particularly in the automotive industry. Moreover, the development of synergies in the production and commercial areas has just started and we expect to achieve important results in the near future” he added.

Within the current year, in fact, a rationalization of the Engineering Plastics production will take place both in the Forlì and Ferrara plants, aiming at a general service improvement by specializing the production sites and optimizing the supply chain.

The agreement will also broaden SO.F.TER. portfolio in the field of reinforced plastics, in which PGroup is specialized with the Tecnoprene® products, a brand that is acknowledged worldwide and homologated by the most important operators in the automotive business. Besides, the integration of copolyester, under the Pibiflex® brand name, will complement SO.F.TER. Thermoplastic Elastomers range and will allow to approach new market segments.

The SO.F.TER. Group reached a turnover of EUR 150 million in 2010 in Europe and has two other companies  in Mexico and Brazil.