Scotland
UK
Ireland
London
Low & Bonar has announced that it is in the process of selling its Bonar Floors division to a Swiss buyer for £123m.
The disposal will leave the group to focus on the fast-growing and high-margin technical textiles market. Latest financial results (12 months to November 30, 2007) show a turnover of £100m in the Bonar Floors division, from which there was a profit of £12m.
The proceeds will be used to meet a £8m shortfall in the group's pension scheme and then to reduce bank borrowings. Forbo, the buyer, is also a player in the European floor manufacturing sector.
The brands it will acquire are Flotex, Tessera, Westbond, Chocflex, Coral, and Nuway. Bonar Floors employs 760 people across manufacturing sites in the UK, France, Holland, the Czech Republic and China.
Forbo has a market capitalisation of £630m with 6,000 employees. Its headquarters at Baar is in the canton of Zug, Switzerland.
(GK/JM)
