Mohawk Industries's agreement to purchase Pergo laminate flooring for $150 million will bring an end to German-based Pfleiderer's seven-year presence in the North American wood products market.
Pfleiderer completed the sale of Uniboard Canada to Kaycan industries in early October and sold the Uniboard panel manufacturing and thermally fused melamine production complex in Moncure, NC, at the start of the year to Arauco.
Pfleiderer entered the North American wood products market via its acquisition of Uniboard in 2005. Pergo, including the Pergo laminate flooring plant iin Garner, NC, was acquired in 2007. Then in 2010, Phleiererer opened what it dubbed its "mega" MDF mill, a plant also capable of manufacturing particleboard, in Moncure, NC. A large part of the plant's production capacity was dedicated to servicing the Pergo Garner mill.
Pergo laminate flooring factory in Garner, NC. In between the purchase of Pergo and opening of the Moncure facility, came the global financial meltdown. Pfleiderer's fortune reeled. The company announced a series of resignation and appointments to its board of directors and executive team. It announced a major restructuring plan in the summer of July 2011 and closed several composite mills in Germany.
In November 2011, it puts its North American operations up for sale in its continuing efforts to reduce costs and raise cash.
This is obviously not a seller's market and no doubt Arauco, Kaycan and Mohawk are confident that they each snapped up a bargain that will provide many happy returns as the North American housing market continues to improve.
2012 has tuned out to be a most intriguing year for the North American wood composite panel industry. While Pfleiderer is out, Arauco is in and in a big way. Shortly after closing on its deal to buy the Uniboard Moncure plant, Chile-based Aruaco scooped up Flakeboard's Canadian and U.S. operations for $242.6 million.
The accompanying "Related Content" links not only serve as a timeline of Pfleiderer's rise and fall since acquiring Pergo, but is also illustrative of Woodworking Network's long-standing commitment to following the blow-by-blow activities of the industry-leading players.
Related Content
Mohawk Industries to Acquire Pergo Laminate Flooring 10-29-12
Uniboard Canada Acquisition by Kaycan Finalized 10-2-12
Arauco Completes $242.5M Flakeboard Buyout 9-25-12
Pfleiderer Files for Insolvency, Uniboard Says It's OK 4-12-12
Hans Pfleiderer Steps Down from Company Board 3-12-12
Rich Christianson is Associate Publisher and Editor at Large of Woodworking Network. During his 25+ years covering the wood products industry, Rich has toured hundreds of manufacturing plants throughout North America, Europe and Asia. His reporting has covered everything from the state of the industry and impact of wood imports to technology and environmental issues. In his current capacity he is responsible for editing the daily Woodworking Network Update newsletter and coordinating events including the annual Cabinets & Closets Conference & Expo and Canada’s biennial Woodworking Machinery & Supply Expo.
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