Oerlikon has signed an agreement to acquire the entire staple fibers technology portfolio of Trützschler Nonwovens & Man-Made Fibers GmbH, Egelsbach, Germany. This company is part of the German Truetzschler Group, which is a specialist in fiber preparation for the yarn spinning and nonwovens industries.

The acquisition expands the manmade fibers segment’s technology portfolio and opens up access to new customers in the market for synthetic staple fibers.

Roland Fischer, CEO of the Oerlikon Group, said, “The acquisition is an important step in line with our strategy to strengthen our position outside the filament business, where we occupy a leading technology and market position. The ongoing consolidation in the chemical fibers market presents interesting opportunities and we are taking this step to ensure that the manmade fibers segment will merge stronger from the current market weakness and profit from the positive long-term market perspectives.”

With the acquisition of the former Fleissner staple fibers technology portfolio and the intellectual property (IP) of Trützschler Nonwovens & Man-Made Fibers GmbH, the segment becomes the leading technology and equipment provider in the global staple fibers market.

The acquisition expands the manmade fibers segment’s staple fibers technology expertise and broadens the segment’s customer base and service business in the respective areas. As staple fibers projects are increasingly tied to continuous polycondensation facilities, already now the manmade fibers segment is well positioned to operate as a provider of complete solutions. Truetzschler Group is discontinuing its staple fiber business as it has decided to focus on its core business activities.

In 2015, the produced staple fibers amounted to 18.5 million tons or some 33 per cent of the total synthetic staple fibers capacity.