Taghleef Industries acquires Applied Extrusion Technologies

"The purchase of AET Films allows Ti to expand its global footprint, secure a strategic position within the North American market and connect with multinational brand owners", said Rashid Al Ghurair, Chairman of Taghleef Industries. Headquartered in Dubai, Ti is currently one of the leading BOPP producers with operations in U.A.E., Oman, Egypt, Australia, Italy and Hungary and distribution centers in US, China and Germany.

Applied Extrusion Technologies Inc., headquartered in Wilmington, DE, purchased the BOPP films division of Hercules Inc. in 1994. As a major supplier of specialized BOPP films in the Americas, AET Films offers a wide range of highly sophisticated flexible packaging films for labeling, food and non-food applications. The company has two production facilities located in Varennes, Canada and Terre Haute, IN, USA, as well as a state of the art research and development facility in Newark, DE, and an R&D pilot line in Covington, VA.

Dr. Detlef Schuhmann, CEO of Ti Group commented that: "Under its current ownership and management, AET has steadily posted healthy financial returns year after year for the past few years and is now ready to strategically partner with a group that is expanding its global footprint. I am eager to bring together our respective skills and technology in order to deploy world class capabilities to best serve our customers, bringing them more solutions".

Thomas Mohr, President and Chief Executive Officer of AET Films added: "We are adding to Ti a highly skilled workforce, a specialized portfolio and a powerful technology platform. The partnership will enable both companies to expand internationally with an unmatched customer reach and strengthen its position in the Americas. Ti has complementary technology and production capabilities to AET which will enable us to provide a broader range of solutions for our customers and accelerate growth".

An integration team has been designed and implemented now that the purchasing process is complete. "Ambitious synergistic actions have been designed and will benefit our key customers on both sides of the Atlantic and further East" explained Chandan Ghatak, CFO of Ti.

This strategic acquisition will expand the Ti group's presence in the Americas, while increasing its annual global BOPP film production capacity to approximately 360,000 Tons.