Divestment Part of Trelleborg’s Continued Focus on Selected Segments

Some two weeks after it acquired Watts Tyre Group – a purchase that Maurizio Vischi, president of the company’s Trelleborg Wheel Systems business area, described as a “further step in our strategy to continuously strengthen our positions in selected segments,” the Swedish firm has taken a further step towards focusing on its core business areas by entering into an agreement to divest its roofing operations. This part of the Trelleborg Engineered Systems business area will be taken over by Axcel, a Nordic private equity fund with offices in both Copenhagen and Stockholm. The acquisition requires approval of the appropriate authorities, and is expected to be finalised in the first quarter of 2011.

“This divestment is a further step in our strategy to focus on selected segments,” said Peter Nilsson, president and CEO of Trelleborg. “The business we are divesting is now ready to be taken to the next level and we are prioritising ventures in other areas. Through the divestment, we are freeing up capital and creating flexibility.”

Trelleborg’s states long-term strategy is built on “products and solutions that seal, damp and protect in selected segments with a need for demanding and complex solutions.” Its Trelleborg Wheel Systems business unit is described as having “successfully developed a strong positioning” in high-performance agricultural and industrial tyres. The Swedish company notes the business area’s production structure has been made more efficient in recent years, which means increased volumes are growing into a more efficient structure.