Trelleborg divests its printing blanket operation

Trelleborg Group has signed an agreement to divest the operation that develops and manufactures printing blankets in polymer-coated fabrics. It is recognized among Assets held for sale in the financial statements. The buyer is Continental, which intends to integrate the operation into its ContiTech business area. Completion of the transaction is subject to the approval of the relevant authorities.

The operation reported annual sales of approximately SEK 1,200 M with an operating margin in line with the Trelleborg Group in 2020. Printing blankets are used for all types of offset printing, as well as flexo and digital printing. The operation also includes a carrier sleeve product line for packaging flexo printing.

“This divestment marks our exit from the printing blanket market. The operation is global, holds a leading position and has developed well under Trelleborg’s management. It is therefore gratifying that a new owner is taking over who can develop it further,” says Peter Nilsson, President and CEO of Trelleborg Group.

“With this, we are also concluding the implementation of the strategic review of December 2019, which was tasked with evaluating various structural initiatives for a number of operations. Since then, we have divested companies with a combined total of more than SEK 3,200 M in sales. We are now fully focused on continuing to develop the Group and our well-performing and well-positioned business areas,” concludes Peter Nilsson.

The divestment of the printing blankets operation is expected to be finalized in the first half year of 2022.