Japan’s JS Group to buy Italy’s Permasteelisa for €573 million

Japanese housing equipment maker J S Group Corp today said it would buy Italian construction firm Permasteelisa from Cima Claddings for about €573 million ($820 million / Rs3,637 crore), in order to expand in the European market.

Italy-based Permasteelisa, with operations in 27 countries, 12 production plants and an annual turnover of around €1 billion, is a leading contractor in the engineering, project management, manufacturing and installation of architectural envelopes and interior systems.

The 38-year old company is credited to have undertaken major architectural works around the world like the Sydney Opera House, various European Parliament buildings in Brussels and Strasbourg, the Canary Wharf business centre in London, the headquarters of ABN AMRO in Amsterdam and of Deutsche Post in Bonn, the airports serving Munich, Brussels and Venice, the Singapore Stock Exchange building, the interior fittings of Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore airports and many others.

The acquisition of will help J S Group's goal of further expanding in the US and European markets and achieve foreign sales of one trillion yen ($12.8 billion).

J S Group is acquiring Permasteelisa from Cima Claddings SA, a company indirectly controlled by two European private equity firms InvestIndustrial and Alpha.

The J S Group is involved in a wide-range of housing-related businesses, including the manufacture and sale of building materials, plumbing fixtures and other equipment, and the operation of home centres and homebuilding franchise chains.