Preface of our CEO

Dear colleagues,

Many of you have read about it in July. Alpha, our current shareholder signed a binding agreement with ASTORG, who will become our new owners. This change is planned to take place mid-October 2022. With the support of ASTORG, a leading European investment firm, we will continue our strategy. We will keep on developing our leading position in the European market for technical insulation products and solutions. We also want to accelerate our “Digital” projects, as we expect this will become even more important for our customers going forward. The same applies to our ambitions to become a leader in sustainability, we want to be more ambitious in this area. 

On a European level, we are all feeling the effects of the energy crisis and inflation. On a personal level, this is impacting all of us. Luckily, more and more governments are taking measures to reduce the pain for families and companies. 
Business-wise, the current situation brings clear risks and opportunities to us as a group. The main risk? That the big cost increases could slow down the plans for many big new construction development projects in Europe. This could lead to less business for all of us. Furthermore, our own internal costs will also increase a lot. Such as higher rents for our buildings, higher transport costs, higher costs for electricity and gas, etcetera. On the positive side it is certain that many companies and residential consumers will start thinking more about saving energy and applying and improving insulation in their projects. Despite this uncertain climate, the current IPCOM business levels remain strong and the financial performance is solid.

We are moving forward with the rebranding of our Technical Insulation companies to "ISOPARTNER". A lot of good work is being done in Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and the Netherlands. Beginning of 2023, the Dutch companies Asbipro, Jacosol and ATIS International will join forces and be known as “ISOPARTNER Netherlands”. Raymond van Loon will lead this new structure as Managing Director and Gert-Jan de Koning as Commercial Director. Be sure to read the article “Discover the World of ISOPARTNER”, which will bring you up to date on the goal of these rebrandings and give you an insight of where we stand in this process.

Our acquisition strategy is well on track. We are expecting to close 2 more acquisitions in the last 4 months of 2022. At IPCOM we are always moving forward together, so be sure to keep your eye out for our regular updates regarding the latest developments. 

In the meantime, enjoy reading the various news items in this FFWD newsletter.

Best regards
Remco Boerefijn