Trelleborg acquires US profile maker EPG

By Liz White, ERJ staff

Trelleborg, Sweden-Trelleborg has bought US sealing profiles maker EPG Inc. and will add the operation to its Building Systems business.

EPG makes polymer sealing products such as extruded profiles and pipe seals, primarily for the construction industry. Trelleborg described EPG as, "a leader within its niches, mainly in commercial building design, and is capturing an increasing share of the residential market."

Privately owned EPG employs about 140 and has annual sales of about SKr170 million (Euro 18.3 million). The company has two plants in Aurora, near Cleveland, Ohio.

"EPG provides us an excellent growth platform for our operations in North America," said Peter Suter, president of Trelleborg Building Systems, in a company release. Pointing out that Trelleborg has a leading position in extruded profiles in Europe, Suter said "we will now have the opportunity to develop and transfer our know-how to the US market."

In recent years Trelleborg has expanded its profiles business in Europe, buying DJ Profiles in the UK at the end of 2003, and small specialist German profiles producer ETU GmbH in May that year,

Suter also pointed out that, in the US, Trelleborg "can also see an attractive trend in this market, with increasing demand for high-quality sealing profiles, attributable to factors including the trend in energy costs."

Trelleborg expects the addition of EPG to offer both technical and commercial synergies for the group.

Trelleborg's Building Systems division makes polymer and bitumen-based construction products for sealing and moisture-repelling applications in industrial and consumer markets. The business has annual sales of SKr 2300 million and has about 1400 employees, at plants in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Poland, Germany, Spain and the UK.