(BFM Bourse) – After the takeover of Tarbes Industry then the takeover of the former Luxfer under the Forges de Gerzat project, Europlasma is continuing to relaunch an integrated French sector for the production and processing of finished aluminum products with the takeover of SATMA PPC, manufacturer of aluminum anodes for electrolytic capacitors.
Little by little, Europlasma is rebuilding part of the former Péchiney conglomerate, dismantled after its takeover by Alcan in 2003. While most of the latter’s assets are now integrated into Constellium, Europlasma has already positioned in January on the takeover of the former Luxfer factory in Puy-de-Dôme, the last European factory for high-pressure gas cylinders used in particular for medical oxygen – a site which had belonged to Péchiney before being taken over by Luxfer. A few months earlier, the group had also taken over Tarbes Industry (now “Les Forges de Tarbes”), a specialist in hollow body forging.
Last Friday, Europlasma announced that it had also been appointed to the bar of the commercial court to acquire SATMA PPC, manufacturer of aluminum anodes for electrolytic capacitors. Founded in 1945 in Goncelin in Isère, SATMA was bought by Péchiney in 1965, then sold to an Italian group when Péchiney was cut up.
The takeover offer includes maintaining production at the current Isère site, retaining all 43 jobs, and an ambitious investment plan aimed at improving competitiveness and profitability.
Components used in many industries
Member of the French Fab, SATMA PPC is the specialist in the production of anodes, electronic components essential to the manufacture of electrolytic capacitors, by the electrochemical treatment of high purity aluminum sheets. These elements are mainly intended for electrolytic capacitors used in many sectors such as quarries, cement works, water treatment and the tertiary industries more generally. They are also suitable for more specific applications, such as car shredders or plastic mixers.
Due to a lack of investment on the one hand and the health crisis on the other, the company experienced a deterioration in its commercial activity and its profitability in 2020, leading to the opening of a receivership procedure in January 2021.
The buyer considers that SATMA PPC has tangible assets, proven technology, recognized know-how and loyal customers mainly for export. “The relaunch of this activity is of obvious strategic importance in terms of sovereignty. Indeed, SATMA PPC is one of the few companies in this sector in the European Union and therefore an essential link in reducing the dependence of our industries on foreign countries and to secure its supplies in the electronic components market”, indicates Europlasma.
The objective is to resume production in the coming weeks and to invest approximately 4 million euros over 36 months in the industrial tool in order to significantly increase its capacity, while significantly reducing energy consumption.
Double turnover by 2024
The acquisition of SATMA PPC gives the group multiple opportunities for wealth creation and competitive repositioning, in particular the local production of solid recovered fuel (SRF) likely to give SATMA PPC energy autonomy and Chopex a new development zone, the recovery of raw materials from the processing of aluminum waste and the manufacture and assembly of aluminum parts for the activities of Forges de Gerzat and Forges de Tarbes.
“This takeover reinforces the group’s strategy to become a key player in depollution and decarbonization of industries. After the acquisition in 2021 of Forges de Tarbes (formerly Tarbes Industry), and the launch of the Les Forges de Gerzat project in 2022, our choice naturally fell on SATMA PPC and the consolidation of a reference industrial player in strategic products whose production has been strongly relocated.Admittedly, the geopolitical context demonstrates the need to preserve this industry, but in l ‘Associating with our disruptive technologies in terms of energy recovery and conversion, we intend to give it a significantly increased competitiveness”, mentioned the CEO of Eurplasma, Jérôme Garnache-Creuillot.
Europlasma thus reiterates its ambition to double revenue by 2021 and achieve a double-digit EBITDA margin by 2024.
Guillaume Bayre – ©2022 BFM Bourse
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