Israeli firm TGL purchases Haifa Rubber Works

Yokneam, Israel - Rubber-to-metal specialist TGL SP Industries Ltd. has acquired the assets of Haifa Rubber Works in a move to bolster its civil market business and diversify its structure.

The two companies finalised the deal, valued at $1.5 million, at the end of last year, though TGL had been working to make the purchase since the middle of 2006, according to Yael Ben Dror, marketing and information technology manager for Pelmar Engineering Ltd.

TGL is a joint venture of Israeli tyre and rubber equipment supplier Pelmar and military products supplier Soltam Systems Ltd.

TGL made the purchase to better balance its business activities, which are heavily concentrated in the military market, Ben Dror said. The military sector is erratic, and TGL wants to grow in a stable market to compliment the military sales and increase the variety of products it sells, she said.

Haifa Rubber, which posts revenues of about $4 million per year, specialises in the manufacture of conveyor belts and infrastructure products like flexible joints for roads and rubber supports for bridges. The company, based in Haifa, Israel, also makes technical rubber and polyurethane products.

The Haifa Rubber acquisition is expected to increase TGL's annual sales- reported at about $16 million - by about 35 percent, making TGL the second largest rubber company in Israel after Alliance Tire Co. Ltd., Pelmar said in a release. TGL, which employs 45, will add about 24 more people via the Haifa Rubber acquisition.

From Rubber & Plastics News (A Crain publication)