The Chinese Fujian Highsun Engineering Plastics Co, Ltd and AKRO-PLASTIC GmbH, a member of the German Feddersen Group, have signed an agreement on 22 December 2021 for future cooperation in the Greater China region (China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan).
Subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authorities, Highsun will acquire a 51% stake in AKRO Engineering Plastics (Changzhou) Co, Ltd. from AKRO-PLASTIC GmbH. The remaining 49 % of the shares in the company will continue to be held by AKRO-PLASTIC GmbH.
The antitrust authorities still have to give their approval to the share transfer.
The joint venture will start its activities on the market after the completion of the share transfer - which is expected in about 3 months. Until then, AKRO Engineering Plastics (Changzhou) Co., Ltd. will continue its business operations as usual. The joint venture will operate under the name Highsun AKRO Engineering Materials (Changzhou) Co., Ltd.
AKRO-PLASTIC GmbH will support the JV with its know-how in the areas of research and development as well as engineering. The JV will also use AKRO-PLASTIC's ICX technology and obtain an exclusive licence to manufacture and market in the Greater China region the products previously manufactured by AKRO-PLASTIC in the People's Republic of China. Outside the Greater China region, AKRO-PLASTIC will continue to hold the exclusive rights to its brands, formulations and technologies and will continue to operate completely independently there as before.
The quality standards and processes remain unchanged. No changes to the material formulations are planned, the production and quality assurance processes will remain unchanged and the qualification standards for raw materials will not change either.
In the future, customers will continue to be able to obtain AKRO-PLASTIC products of the same quality from all plants worldwide, including the JV plant in China.
Highsun is the fully backward integrated world market leader for PA 6 and has an excellent infrastructure as well as extensive relationships in China. AKRO-PLASTIC has leading PA compounding technology as well as a strong position as a supplier to a large number of global companies in its customer base.
The combination of the strengths of both partners will enable the joint venture to build a leading position for PA compounds in China. The shareholders intend to develop the joint venture into a leading player in the Chinese engineering thermoplastics market.
There are several advantages for customers:
- Secure supply of PA 6 based on backward integration of Highsun.
- A supplier with an excellent set-up and operational standards in China
- A supplier who is committed to the Chinese market and will make the necessary investments
- A local partner in China with German quality standards
The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Unfortunately, not all contract partners were able to be present at the signing of the contract in Fuzhou/China. From left to right: Linda Xu, Sales Director, Qi Jiwei, Operations Manager and Deputy General Manager (both AKRO Engineering Plastics (Changzhou) Co., Ltd.), Chen Jianlong, Chairman, Highsun Holding Group, Wilfried Jobst, General Manager AKRO Engineering Plastics (Changzhou) Co., Ltd., Chen Zhong, President, Highsun Holding Group and Shen Zhonghai, Vice Finance Director, Highsun Holding Group.
