Uponor Corporation Stock exchange release 20 July 2017 15.30 EET
Uponor invests €5.6 million in acquisition of manufacturing facility in the USA
Uponor North America, part of the Building Solutions – North America segment, has signed an agreement to acquire a manufacturing facility and real estate in the U.S. town of Hutchinson, Minnesota. The deal, which is worth €5.6 million ($6.3 million), is expected to close by end of August 2017.
Forecasting continued long-term growth in commercial and residential construction, Uponor plans to acquire the 22,000 square metre (237,000 square foot) facility to expand its PEX pipe manufacturing operations. After 10 expansions in 26 years, including the latest addition announced on 4 May 2017, Uponor’s current premises in Apple Valley, Minnesota have reached the limits available for growth.
”We have witnessed weaker than anticipated net sales development in Building Solutions – North America in the first half of the year, which has partly been caused by our inability to meet customer demand for our products. The new facility in Hutchinson will allow Uponor to increase production capacity, pending regulatory approvals, in time to satisfy expected growth in demand in 2019,” says Jyri Luomakoski, President and CEO at Uponor Corporation.
Roughly 100 km (less than 70 miles) west of the current Apple Valley premises, Hutchinson – sometimes referred to as “Minnesota’s manufacturing city” – is an attractive location as it provides access to a large pool of manufacturing talent and remains close enough to the company’s existing operations to enable the use of shared services.
In its January – March interim report on 3 May 2017, Uponor estimated that the Group’s capital expenditure would be close to €60 million in 2017. Together with investments in tools and machinery, the above acquisition is likely to lead to a change in the full-year capital expenditure forecast, which will be reviewed upon the publication of the half-year financial statements on 25 July 2017.
For further information, please contact: Jyri Luomakoski, President and CEO, tel. +358 20 129 2824 Maija Strandberg, CFO tel. +358 20 129 2830
Uponor Corporation
Tarmo Anttila Vice President, Communications Tel. +358 20 129 2852
DISTRIBUTION: Nasdaq Helsinki Media www.uponor.com
Uponor is a leading international systems and solutions provider for safe drinking water delivery, energy-efficient radiant heating and cooling and reliable infrastructure. The company serves a variety of building markets including residential, commercial, industrial and civil engineering. Uponor employs about 3,900 employees in 30 countries, mainly in Europe and North America. In 2016, Uponor's net sales totalled €1.1 billion. Uponor is based in Finland and listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. www.uponor.com
