H.B. Fuller Completes Two Strategic Acquisitions
H.B. Fuller, which bills itself as the world’s largest pure-play adhesives provider, has announced the completion of two strategic acquisitions that it said will accelerate the transformation of the US company’s portfolio toward more highly specified applications and enhance diversification of its Construction Adhesives (CA) business.
Together the two buys will contribute about $17 million to sales revenue and $2 million to adjusted EBITDA in fiscal 2023. Including synergies, the additions are expected to contribute an estimated $60 million in revenue and $15 million in adjusted EBITDA in fiscal 2025.
Both of the deals were transacted during the month of June. In the first, the St. Paul, Minnesota-based adhesives giant acquired Adhezion Biomedical, a privately held US medical adhesives business based in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, which manufactures and distributes advanced wound closure and infection prevention adhesives.
H.B. Fuller said this acquisition will build a platform of scale for the company in the topical skin bonding market. It will add to capabilities it picked up with the 2021 purchase of Tissue Seal as well as providing vertically integrated adhesive manufacturing and packaging capability.
The Minnesota firm said the takeover “decisively positions” it for expansion in the medical adhesives industry and creates a solid, unique platform from which to scale and innovate in the highly profitable, $8 billion healthcare adhesives space.
Establishing a foothold in the Middle East
In the second transaction, H.B. Fuller acquired XCHEM International, an adhesives manufacturer based in the United Arab Emirates. The company produces a wide range of specialty adhesives and coatings for industrial and infrastructure applications in the fast-growing construction markets of the Middle East and North Africa.
This acquisition will give H.B. Fuller’s global construction additives business unit the first manufacturing presence outside the US for its flagship Foster brand. At the same time the company will broaden its portfolio of highly specified applications and diversify its portfolio toward both non-US and infrastructure-oriented markets.
“Although small, these two acquisitions represent outstanding platforms to capitalize upon and expand our portfolio into high-growth, highly specified markets, consistent with our strategy,” the US player said.
Adhezion Biomedical will operate within H.B. Fuller’s Hygiene, Health and Consumable Adhesives global business unit, while XCHEM International will operate within the company’s CA global business unit.
Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist
