Suominen Corp. — a Finland-based supplier of nonwovens, wet wipes and flexible packaging for
consumer products — will invest approximately 2.5 million euros (US$3.3 million) at its plant in
Windsor Locks, Conn., to expand production capacity for its Hydraspun® Substrates — including
Hydraspun Dispersable Substrate, a nonwoven roll good for flushable wipes. The Windsor Locks plant
operates under Suominen’s Nonwovens business unit.
“We have decided to proceed with this investment in order to be able to answer to our
customers’ increasing demand,” said Jean-Marie Becker, executive vice president, Suominen
Nonwovens. “We will further strengthen our position in the wipes market, and particularly in this
market segment, and the investment will expand the production capacity of our proprietary Hydraspun
Substrate technology.”
To further strengthen its strategic focus on nonwovens, Suominen has sold all shares of Codi
Wipes — its wet wipes business unit based in the Netherlands — to Cogitandum BV — a subsidiary of
private investment firm Value Enhancement Partners, the Netherlands — for approximately 9.2 million
euros (US$12 million). Following the closing of the transaction, Suominen will operate two business
units, Nonwovens and Flexibles.
“Divesting Codi Wipes business unit is very well in line with our ‘In the Lead’ strategy as
the deal clarifies both our corporate structure and our position in wipes value chain, particularly
in relation to our nonwovens customers,” said Nina Kopola, president and CEO, Suominen Corp. “We
can now concentrate even better on further strengthening our competitiveness in nonwovens. “Due to
our major expansion in nonwovens, the strategic role of an own converting unit has clearly
diminished from 2003, when Codi International was acquired. For Codi International, this
transaction assures an owner with strategic interest to develop the company further.”
“Codi International holds a very strong position in the European wet wipes industry with a
highly automated production that provides some of the highest quality converting possibilities in
Europe,” said Kenneth Tjon, managing partner, Value Enhancement Partners. “The fragmented market
and growth in upcoming markets presents opportunities to increase the scale of the company and to
diversify its production into more geographies and products, thereby also potentially being better
able to serve its globally operating customers. We look forward to realizing the growth plans
together with management.”
June 25, 2013
