Daikin confirms Solvay refrigerants purchase

Daikin says its acquisition of Solvay’s European refrigerants business will boost sales to €230m by 2018.The deal reported to be worth around €22m gives the Japanese company, best known in the West as an air conditioning manufacturer, its first refrigerant manufacturing base in Europe.

Daikin’s refrigerants business achieved sales of around €90m last year, mainly in the Far East, where it has manufacturing sites in Japan and China. By expanding its sales channels in Europe, Daikin expects to boost refrigerant sales to more than €230m by 2018.

Solvay’s European refrigerants business is reported to be worth around €53m but, significantly, Daikin’s purchase will also give the Japanese company access to Solvay’s refrigerant quota under the European F-gas regulations.

The move also gives Daikin access to Solvay’s refrigerant recovery facility at its manufacturing site in Frankfurt. Daikin says it will be formulating concrete efforts in fiscal year 2015 “that include recovery and reuse of refrigerant gas and the development of sustainable automotive refrigerant.” …

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