Italian paper giant Fedrigoni Group has bought Unifol - an Istanbul, Turkey-based manufacturer of self-adhesive PVC films – to enter the global automotive cast vinyl wrap films market.
“The acquisition of the Istanbul-based company represents a fundamental step to strengthen our presence in the self-adhesive materials market, where we are already positioned as the third largest operator in the world,” said Fedrigoni.
“The PVC CAST technology developed by Unifol allows in particular the ‘vehicle wrapping,’ the possibility of applying a film to protect the vehicle body, but also for its decoration, changing the colour or with graphic elements. The arrival of Unifol in the Fedrigoni Group expands our offer for visual communication, making it more complete.
“UNIFOL is a compelling technological player, having developed innovative, resistant and long-lasting PVC films for 3D applications on large surfaces. The acquisition is part of the Fedrigoni Group’s strategy to continue to diversify its product range in adjacent sectors, expand its global presence and reinforce its position as a leading player in the global self-adhesives space.”
Founded in 1994 by its current owners, Unifol has about 80 employees and specialises in PVC CAST technology for vehicle wrapping with its UNICAST brand.
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| "To expand into a promising segment": Marco Nespolo CEO Fedrigoni Group |
“UNIFOL is an extremely interesting technological player for us,” said Marco Nespolo, CEO of Fedrigoni Group. “It has developed innovative, resistant, long-lasting self-adhesives that can be used for 3D applications on large surfaces. This acquisition will allow us to make our offer more attractive and to continue our strategy to expand into a promising segment, adjacent to those we are already present in, as we have previously done with our entry in the smart labels sector with the acquisition of the French company Tageos.”
Fulvio Capussotti, executive vice president of Fedrigoni’s Self-Adhesives division: “We are greatly satisfied with this operation that allows us to expand our portfolio of solutions in the graphics and visual communication sector. The combination of the UNIFOL technology and the global geographic presence of Fedrigoni will allow us to be ever more competitive in a rapidly growing niche market in Europe and throughout the world.”
Birol Çakır and Erkut Cilvez, shareholders of UNIFOL, said: “We are delighted to reach an agreement with a solid and expanding international company such as the Fedrigoni Group. We believe that following the completion of the transaction, UNIFOL will accelerate its global growth path and ability to invest in research and development of increasingly high- performance and innovative solutions.”
Fedrigoni, founded in 1888, has more than 4,500 employees in 27 countries and 48 facilities, including production plants, cutting centres and distribution. The group sells and distributes 25,000 products in 132 countries and is a leading global player in wine labels and specialty papers for luxury packaging, and the third largest player in premium self-adhesive materials.
Ritrama, Fedrogoni's adhesive film arm, is sold in Australia by HVG and is also available through Pozitive and Conect.
Fedrigoni paper products are distributed in Australia by Spicers.
