STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Dec. 12, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Nordstjernan invests in Valinge -- a leading technology development company in the flooring industry.
- Nordstjernan AB ("Nordstjernan") has reached an agreement with the Pervan family to acquire an ownership interest in Valinge Holding AB 1) ("Valinge"), which is the parent company of Valinge Aluminium AB ("Valinge Aluminium").
- Valinge Aluminium is a leading technology development company in the flooring industry that has shown strong growth in recent years.
- Initially, Nordstjernan will own 23 percent of Valinge, with the possibility to increase its ownership to 50 percent.
- The transaction creates opportunities for Valinge to develop its successful licensing business and to increase the pace of innovation regarding new flooring systems.
Valinge Holding is the parent company of Valinge Aluminium, which in 1993 developed the world's first mechanical locking system for laminate and wood flooring. Flooring with a mechanical locking system enables glue-free floor laying and in recent years has captured substantial market shares from traditional glued floors. Valinge Aluminium holds an extensive patent portfolio and the company's licensees include many leading international laminate and wood floor producers. Valinge Aluminium recently invested in an advanced development and production center in Viken, outside Helsingborg, to continue development of new flooring systems. Valinge Aluminium has shown strong earnings growth for a number of years.
"Valinge holds a world-leading position in mechanical locking systems for laminate and wood flooring. We currently have some ten licensees worldwide that produce nearly 30 million square meters of flooring annually featuring our technology," said Darko Pervan, founder and President of Valinge. "We succeeded with our commercialization and since the start ten years ago the company has shown highly favorable profitability. We welcome Nordstjernan as an owner. Like Valinge, Nordstjernan is a family owned company that has a long-term view of ownership. The partnership provides Valinge greater financial strength and an expanded international contact network, which can be valuable in a number of new ventures that now can be implemented faster and in a greater scope," continued Darko Pervan. "Actions will include complementing our new development center with a flooring plant in Viken for newly developed specialty flooring. This new flooring will mainly be delivered to our licensees for reselling to distributors globally."
The transaction will be concluded finally when certain formal conditions are fulfilled.
Nordstjernan is a family-owned investment company that through active ownership in Nordic companies shall create value growth. Investment shall be long term. Nordstjernan's largest owner in terms of capital is the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation. More information about Nordstjernan is available at www.nordstjernan.se.
Valinge Holding, with subsidiary Valinge Aluminium, is part of a group owned by the Pervan family, The group also includes the finance and real estate company Valinge Invest AB, which is not affected by this agreement . More information about Valinge Aluminium is available at www.valingealuminium.se. Name being changed from Bronsringen AB.
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