New surface treatment line at the Holíč, Slovakia is in operation
Fortaco has opened successfully a state of the art surface treatment line for serial manufacturing at the Holíč site in Slovakia. The site manufactures ready-to-assemble cabins for mobile machines for its globally-operating OEM customers.
The investment enables Holíč to optimize its order to delivery process, lowers the surface treatment related costs considerably and facilitates quality control in the surface treatment process. With the new surface treatment is achieved surface treatment class C-5 M (ISO12944-6), which fulfills the needs of the most demanding applications such as in mining, construction or material handling cabins needed.
On the automatized line, the cabin frames go through zinc-phosphating and cataphoresis process before powder painting. The line meets the high quality and environmental criteria of the automotive industry and the original equipment manufacturers. Fortaco has used a similar coating process at the Kurikka cabin site in Finland since 2006. The total investment value was worth about three million Euros.
Fortaco starts co-operation negotiations in Parkano
Fortaco Oy starts co-operation negotiations in Parkano in order to improve the competitiveness of the site and respond to the foreseen changes in market demand.
The objective is to further enhance the productivity and competitiveness of Parkano site and look for alternatives in order to relocate the current Parkano operations to other Fortaco sites. The co-operation negotiations concern all employees (24) of the Parkano site and might lead to permanent redundancies.
Fortaco starts co-operation negotiations in Kurikka components and assembly site
Fortaco Ostrobothnia Oy starts co-operation negotiations in order to improve the competitiveness of the site and respond to the foreseen changes in market demand. The objective is to further enhance the productivity and competitiveness of cabin assembly operations and look for alternatives for the component business within the Fortaco organization. The co-operation negotiations concern all employee groups of the site. This process can lead to permanent redundancies up to 105 blue collar and 17 white collar employees out of total number of 377. The co-operation negotiations are conducted in accordance to as defined by finnish law and established practices.
Fortaco press release – 28 December 2012
Establishing a new company called Fortaco was agreed in October 2012 by the funds managed by CapMan (CapMan) and Rautaruukki Corporation (Ruukki).The new company was planned to be established by combining units of Komas and Ruukki’s Engineering division and the agreement has now been finalized. Fortaco becomes Europe’s largest manufacturing partner for the engineering industry.
The CEO of Komas Group, Mika Kari MSc (Industrial Engineering and Management), has been appointed Fortaco’s CEO. In addition, the management team comprises Esko Harila (CFO), Erik Skogström, Ville Jaakkola, Jukka Mäkelä, Tomas Forsgård and Juha Simola. The Board of Directors comprises representatives designated by CapMan, Peter Augustsson (Chairman), Jan Mattlin and Lars Hellberg, members designated by Ruukki, Mikko Hietanen and Marko Somerma and in addition Jukka-Pekka Nikula.
The company is formed through the combination of compatible and complementary units of Ruukki and Komas. Fortaco’s largest owner with a 66.5% stake is CapMan and Ruukki will hold 19.0% of the company’s equity. Komas’ units excluded from the arrangement will continue to operate as an independent company, Komas Keski-Suomi, with Antti Jokitalo as new CEO and under CapMan’s and other present ownership.
Komas press release 11.12.2012 at 1.30 pm EET
Funds managed by CapMan (CapMan) and Rautaruukki Corporation (Ruukki) agreed in October to combine units of Komas and Ruukki’s Engineering division to form a new company called Fortaco. The agreement has now received European Commission clearance and is expected to be finalised by the end of 2012. Fortaco becomes Europe’s largest manufacturing partner for the engineering industry.
Komas Press Release 17 October 2012 at 9:00 a.m. EET
Funds managed by CapMan (CapMan) and Rautaruukki Corporation (Ruukki) have agreed to combine units of Komas and Ruukki’s Engineering division to form a new company through an asset deal. The new company is called Fortaco and will be Europe’s largest contract manufacturer for the mechanical engineering industry.
In 2012, Fortaco is expected to generate turnover (pro forma) of approx. €270 million and will have approx. 2,600 employees. The new company will be formed through the combination of compatible and complementary units of Ruukki and Komas. Fortaco’s customer base consists of the world’s leading engineering OEM’s, which benefit from a broader product and service offering. The company’s main products are high performing welded and machined components, ready-to-install operator cabins and fullyassembled machines and equipment.
The current CEO of Komas, Mika Kari, will become CEO of Fortaco and the management team will include members from both Ruukki and Komas. Following the completion of the transaction, CapMan will become Fortaco’s largest shareholder with a 66.5% stake in the company, while Ruukki will hold 19.0% of the company’s equity. Fortaco’s complete management team and the composition of its Board of Directors will be announced in connection with the closing of the transaction.
“We are very satisfied with this agreed transaction. The arrangement strengthens the know-how of the new company and provides it with comprehensive production capacity in Eastern Europe in addition to Finland. Fortaco will become the largest manufacturing partner for the engineering industry in Europe, which allows us to better service our international customer base”, says Mika Kari, CEO of Komas.
“When we originally invested in Komas, we envisaged building a leading contract manufacturing company in the mechanical engineering industry with the aptitude to grow and develop together with its customers. The transaction enables us to form a highly competitive company with state-of-the-art manufacturing operations in Finland, Poland, Estonia, Hungary and Slovakia. As a consequence, we are able to offer flexible and high quality services to customers both in the Nordic countries and in Continental Europe”, says Jan Mattlin, Partner, CapMan Buyout.
“This transaction is a natural progression in an industry, where contract manufacturers are expected to show efficiency and possess specific know-how and international presence. Fortaco will become the largest player in its field and it has strong design and manufacturing competence," says Marko Somerma, Executive Vice President, Ruukki Engineering & CSO Rautaruukki Corporation. Komas will contribute its Janów Lubelski (Poland), Narva (Estonia), and Sastamala, Kurikka, Parkano and Härmä units (Finland) to Fortaco. Employees of the aforementioned units will transfer to Fortaco as old employees. Komas units in Jyväskylä will not be part of Fortaco and will continue to operate as an independent company under Komas’ current ownership. Ruukki Engineering’s units in Jászberény (Hungary), Wroclaw (Poland) and Holíč (Slovakia) together with Kurikka, Sepänkylä and Kalajoki component units (Finland) will be transferred to the new company.
The completion of the transaction is subject to approval from the competition authorities and is expected to be finalised by early December 2012.