The European private equity firm WHEB Ventures has announced that it has invested €10.8 million (US$13.67 million) into the German company Friedola TECH GmbH.
Friedola, which is involved in the recycled plastics processing and products business, has a line of products that consist of up to 80 percent recycled materials, feedstock which is generated by its own plastic waste recycling facilities in Germany. The finished product is primarily used in the automotive and logistics industries.
The company’s main product is CON-Pearl, a lightweight board made of polypropylene. The boards, primarily made from recycled plastics, are laminated to ensure they are rigid, impact- and scratch-resistant, non-corroding, rot-free, chemically resistant, thermally and acoustically insulating and lightweight.
“Friedola is a company with a long history of profitable success and innovation, and we are delighted to join with management in buying it out from its previous owners and help it accelerate its growth,” says Jörg Sperling, a partner at WHEB Ventures. “Its products address some important needs of the automotive and logistics markets in which fuel efficiency and the use of recycled materials have become key sources of competitive differentiation. We look forward to helping Friedola to expand its operations and enter new markets.”
“We are very pleased to partner with WHEB Ventures. The firm is well known for its long experience and considerable value addition in cleantech markets. We look forward to working with them as we increase our production capacity, address international markets more aggressively and develop more applications for our products,” says Christoph Holzapfel, Friedola’s CEO.