Roca sells its ceramic division to the Lamosa Group for 219 million

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Grupo Roca, which specializes in sanitary ware and other bathroom products, announced yesterday the sale of its flat ceramic division to Lamosa, a public Mexican company specializing in ceramic coatings and adhesives. The cost of the operation is $260 million, or about 219 million euros at the current exchange rate.

The deal is subject to approval by Grupo Lamosa’s general meeting of shareholders, scheduled for August, so there are still weeks for the sale to materialize.

According to a statement from the Catalan and family-owned company, the deal includes the sale of three tile factories. One of them is a Valencian plant in Cerámicas Belcaire, located in the province of Castellón, the other two are located in Brazil, in the towns of Campo Largo and São Mateus do Sul (near Curitiba, south of São Paulo).

The deal includes the sale of three tile factories, one of which is located in Castellón

In total, the tile business employs 1,628 people, who will join the Mexican group’s workforce in the coming months. Company sources indicate that 79% work in factories in Brazil while the rest is distributed between Spain, where the number of affected workers is 230, and also in the United States, where 116 people work for a trading subsidiary. The billing for this division is confidential. The company asserts that in 2020, the three factories added production of 23.4 million square meters of tiles, which were exported all over the world, especially to the United States, Brazil and Spain.

Roca emphasizes that the sale of this division is part of its strategy to strengthen its position in the bathroom space segment, in line with the company’s operations implemented this year. In January, the company acquired 75% of the Royo Valencian group, and also established a sanitary ware factory in northeastern Brazil. In June, the company also acquired German company Sanit, which specializes in wall-mount systems and bathroom fixture components. The prices of these collectibles were kept secret.

Regarding the recent sale, Roca CEO Albert Magrans congratulated himself yesterday on the process while Federico Toussaint, CEO of the Mexican group, highlighted the step he will take to strengthen its presence in America and grow in Europe.

The process is practically between equals. Both companies have more than a century of family history and turnover of about a billion dollars.

Grupo Roca, born in 1917 in Barcelona, ​​ended 2020 with revenues of 1,684 million euros, 9.5% lower than in 2019, and a net profit of 60 million, 12% lower than the previous year. The company explains that the declines are due to the slowdown in the global economy caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

For its part, Grupo Lamosa has a turnover of 1,063 million dollars (900 million euros). According to the statement, the acquisition of Roca will allow it to increase its turnover by about 20%.

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