H2Q Water Industries, a water purifying company in which Strauss holds a 90% stake, paid Israeli buyout fund Fimi €53m for Tana Industries. Tami4, a manufacturer of dispensers that purify and filter water, has annual sales of €45m according to Strauss.
Tana is held by several investors, the largest of which is the FIMI mezzanine fund, which owns 41%. The company makes hot and cold water systems that are filtered and purified, as well as coolers and sub-sink systems.
Strauss is seeking to boost sagging sales by targeting growing global demand for alternatives to bottled water. The company will gradually combine H2Q and Tami4’s activities under a new division – Strauss Water – according to chairman Ofra Strauss, who spoke at a press conference at the company’s headquarters in Petah Tikva.
“We see tremendous growth potential for the drinking water industry,” he said. “We want to target millions of people worldwide who need a simple solution for high-quality and clean drinking water for the office and household.”
Strauss shares rose to a 10-month high in Tel Aviv after the company announced the acquisition. Strauss rose as much as 3.1% – the highest since 27 August 2008.
The Strauss Group is Israel’s second largest food and beverage company. Over the past few years, it has become an international corporation with a steadily growing part of its business conducted outside of Israel. The group employs 11,600 people and operates 19 production sites in 16 countries.
In the last six years, the group has consistently achieved growth that more than doubled the volume of its business during that period, generating $1.7bn in turnover at the end of 2008, of which 47% came from international activities. The group is built around three core businesses:
In addition to these businesses, Strauss is engaged in the start-up H2Q water project, which has recently completed its technological development phase.
The group also collaborates with a number of leading multinationals – Danone, PepsiCo and Lavazza – and is traded on the Tel Aviv 25 Index, which includes the largest public companies in Israel.
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