Gurit acquiring Danish wind turbine kits supplier JSB Group

Photo by JSB Group

Swiss high-performance plastics composites supplier Gurit Holding AG is strengthening its wind energy business with a DKK 520m (€70m) acquisition of JSB Group.

Based in Ringk?bing, Denmark, JSB is a supplier of core material kits for wind turbine blades with seven kitting operations in Denmark, Spain, Turkey, the US, and China. The company is also planning to build a new kitting facility in Mexico.

The JSB operations will form a new Gurit business unit for kitting solutions. JSB’s established name will be retained as a product brand.

According to JSB website, core material kits consist of up to 1600 unique items used to increase the durability and performance of wind blades.

By combining the right thickness and sizes and cutting them into the right shapes, a kit becomes a lightweight yet sturdy component to support the wind turbine blade. A kit usually consists of shells for the lower and upper part of the blade and a vertical web in the middle for extra support.

JSB's are made from either balsa wood or recycled plastic-based PET foam.

Gurit, which is already a leading supplier of wind core materials, said the acquisition of JSB downstream core kitting operations would improve its value chain and allow it to offer wind energy OEMs a full solution of structural core materials, core material kits and wind turbine blade moulds.

The combination of the two companies’ capabilities into a dedicated product and supply chain powerhouse will drive down cost of energy for customers, explained Frank Virenfeldt Nielsen, CEO of JSB Group commenting on the takeover.

“This is another milestone in our corporate strategy to significantly enhance the Gurit wind energy business globally towards market leading positions in the areas in which we operate,” added Rudolf Hadorn, CEO of Gurit.

The move, Hadorn explained, was “a big step” in supporting Gurit’s wind energy customers and offering “smart, tailored and regionally accessible solutions.”

JSB Group has 560 employees and expects to generate CHF120m (€105m) in sales in 2018.

According to Gurit, JSB has effective kit design capability and high quality while offering precision manufacturing of kits with purpose-built manufacturing equipment.

JSB Group is held by the private equity fund VC VIII JSB Holding ApS, of which Verdane Capital VIII K/S is the majority owner.

The transaction is expected to close by mid-October.