Spain's Uralita group, through its Ursa insulation division, has acquired Turkish glass wool manufacturer Özpor in a transaction valued at more than EUR 30 million. The purchase includes the Turkish firm's plant at Polatli near Ankara, which has a production capacity of 15,000 metric tons of glass wool. Özpor, based in the Turkish capital, is one of the country's leading manufacturers and marketers of insulating materials, with annual sales of EUR 20 million. In addition to rock wool, the company produces extruded polystyrene (XPS) and markets expanded polystyrene (EPS). Through this acquisition, Ursa has expanded its business in the Middle East market and has strengthened its presence in Eastern Europe. Madrid-based Ursa has nine glass wool worldwide: two in Russia, one each in Spain, Slovenia, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France, and four XPS plants in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. In addition, the group is building three more plants, two for glass wool in the United Kingdom and the Ukraine, and the third for XPS in Russia, which could be ready in 2009.
