01.01.05
Location: Gatineau, Quebec
Sales: $117 million
Description: Key Personnel
Tony Molluso, CEO
Plants
Gatineau, Thurso, Quebec, Germany
Processes
airlaid
Major Markets
wipes, feminine hygiene, diapers
Under new management is airlaid specialist Concert Industries. The Gatineau, Quebec-based company was purchased in full by Brascan Asset Management’s Tricap Fund on December 31, 2004 after more than 18 months of economic uncertainty. The company’s Canadian operations had been in Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act protection, similar to U.S. bankruptcy protection, prior to the Brascan purchase.
In April, Brascan brought in turnaround specialist Tony Molluso as president and CEO of Concert, who has been charged with returning the company to profitability by year’s end. “Brascan spent a year, or more than a year, looking at Concert before buying it,” he said. “Obviously, they see something good in this business. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have spent $100 million on it.”
Among Concert’s winning qualities is its strong focus on airlaid nonwovens. All of its 80,000 tons of output, located at three plants in Gatineau and Falkenhagen, Germany, comprise airlaid. In spite of its troubles reaching profitability, Concert has been able to significantly grow its sales in recent years. Now a privately held company, Concert does not reveal its sales and earnings figures, but prior to the Brascan purchase, in 2003, sales increased some 40% as new capacity in Gatineau came onstream.
And, the airlaid market in general has benefited from some capacity reductions—Concert’s closure of its Charleston, SC facility and competitor Buckeye Technologies’ shutdown of a Cork, Ireland line—as well as picked-up demand for the substrate. Now experts say that pricing levels in airlaid are more balanced than they’ve been in several years.
“Airlaid has not only recovered from an economic standpoint,” Mr. Molluso said. “You have to see how important airlaid technology is to Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble. Considering we are the only company strictly producing airlaid nonwovens, that’s got to mean something.”
Currently, about 75% of Concert’s airlaid output in the U.S. serves the feminine hygiene market with the remaining largely targeting disposable wipes. In Europe, feminine hygiene is even more important to the company, representing a reported 95% of sales.
Mr. Molluso said that branching into new areas will be a large part of Concert’s recovery plan. One key area will be the household wipes segment where cost efficiency and flexibility can rival competition in the spunlaced market. “We are beefing up product development, technology and marketing efforts for new products,” he added. “Especially with spunlace being so volatile due to plastic and oil prices, airlaid can have a definite advantage.”
In addition to displacing competing technologies, new markets such as tabletop, which is already booming in Europe, show great potential in North America.
“We have 80,000 tons of capacity and it’s our job to fill up those lines,” Mr. Molluso said.
Getting Concert back on track, for the long term, is expected to take three to five years, according to Mr. Molluso, but the good news is Brascan remains committed to growing this business. And, for now this business is healthy and ready to grow.
“We have just come out of CAA protection and the good thing is we have no debt,” Mr. Molluso. “We have no interest payments or huge burden over our heads so we can focus on building the business. We believe opportunities will present themselves and we will have an organization that is flexible and focused enough to take advantage of them as they happen.”
Sales: $117 million
Description: Key Personnel
Tony Molluso, CEO
Plants
Gatineau, Thurso, Quebec, Germany
Processes
airlaid
Major Markets
wipes, feminine hygiene, diapers
Under new management is airlaid specialist Concert Industries. The Gatineau, Quebec-based company was purchased in full by Brascan Asset Management’s Tricap Fund on December 31, 2004 after more than 18 months of economic uncertainty. The company’s Canadian operations had been in Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act protection, similar to U.S. bankruptcy protection, prior to the Brascan purchase.
In April, Brascan brought in turnaround specialist Tony Molluso as president and CEO of Concert, who has been charged with returning the company to profitability by year’s end. “Brascan spent a year, or more than a year, looking at Concert before buying it,” he said. “Obviously, they see something good in this business. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have spent $100 million on it.”
Among Concert’s winning qualities is its strong focus on airlaid nonwovens. All of its 80,000 tons of output, located at three plants in Gatineau and Falkenhagen, Germany, comprise airlaid. In spite of its troubles reaching profitability, Concert has been able to significantly grow its sales in recent years. Now a privately held company, Concert does not reveal its sales and earnings figures, but prior to the Brascan purchase, in 2003, sales increased some 40% as new capacity in Gatineau came onstream.
And, the airlaid market in general has benefited from some capacity reductions—Concert’s closure of its Charleston, SC facility and competitor Buckeye Technologies’ shutdown of a Cork, Ireland line—as well as picked-up demand for the substrate. Now experts say that pricing levels in airlaid are more balanced than they’ve been in several years.
“Airlaid has not only recovered from an economic standpoint,” Mr. Molluso said. “You have to see how important airlaid technology is to Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble. Considering we are the only company strictly producing airlaid nonwovens, that’s got to mean something.”
Currently, about 75% of Concert’s airlaid output in the U.S. serves the feminine hygiene market with the remaining largely targeting disposable wipes. In Europe, feminine hygiene is even more important to the company, representing a reported 95% of sales.
Mr. Molluso said that branching into new areas will be a large part of Concert’s recovery plan. One key area will be the household wipes segment where cost efficiency and flexibility can rival competition in the spunlaced market. “We are beefing up product development, technology and marketing efforts for new products,” he added. “Especially with spunlace being so volatile due to plastic and oil prices, airlaid can have a definite advantage.”
In addition to displacing competing technologies, new markets such as tabletop, which is already booming in Europe, show great potential in North America.
“We have 80,000 tons of capacity and it’s our job to fill up those lines,” Mr. Molluso said.
Getting Concert back on track, for the long term, is expected to take three to five years, according to Mr. Molluso, but the good news is Brascan remains committed to growing this business. And, for now this business is healthy and ready to grow.
“We have just come out of CAA protection and the good thing is we have no debt,” Mr. Molluso. “We have no interest payments or huge burden over our heads so we can focus on building the business. We believe opportunities will present themselves and we will have an organization that is flexible and focused enough to take advantage of them as they happen.”