profine Group expands its footprint into the facades segment with EFP’s acquisition

This interaction delves into what EFP’s acquisition brings to the profine Group and the integrated, sustainable product offerings for the Indian market.

What strategies ensure market leadership in uPVC while driving expansion into new verticals? profine Group has a presence in 65 countries. Our biggest brand is Koemmerling, a pioneer in uPVC door and window profile systems.  We are also into PVC sheets, but our dominant business is the profiles. The group turnover is around €1 billion. The recent product offering of profine is made of aluminium. We started the aluminium range of doors and windows from India in 2017.  We have recently acquired a company that deals with facades, curtain walls, skylights, and other such products. Currently, we have three product verticals: uPVC door and window systems, aluminium door and window systems, and facades. 

What does the European Façade Products (EFP) acquisition mean for profine Group? 
We are well known for our uPVC doors and windows, and from 2017, for the aluminium doors and windows. We have acquired European Facade Products (EFP) with a 100 percent stake, which has also expanded our footprint into facades. EFP is a well-known company based in the Netherlands with a strong global presence. With this acquisition, we offer a complete product range of curtain walling, skylights, aerofoils, louvres, sunshades, windows, doors, sliding windows and doors, as well as specialised systems for cladding substructures.  So customers can get everything under one roof. EFP brings to the industry many choices that can be offered to the Indian market. 

What are EFP’s products, particularly those for the Indian market? 
EPP is a well-known name in the Indian market. EFP has executed over 70 projects in India and has been involved in several big projects, such as the ONGC headquarters in Delhi, Trump Towers in Pune, and Chennai Airport. With EFP becoming a part of Koemmerling and profine Group, we want to expand it manifold. This acquisition adds value to the customer and the industry.

With the acquisition of EFP, what are your steps to ensure sustainability? 
Sustainability has been a core topic for our profile as a group because uPVC is a green product that contributes to energy savings. With the acquisition of EFP, we will be able to carry on the mantra of sustainability as EFP products are made of aluminium. Sustainability will also be a key factor for us going forward because the environment is a priority for us. 

Please walk us through the certifications that your products have received for sustainability. 
Our doors and windows are certified by EAN and the other standards in India. We are a member of IGBC and are committed towards green products, as uPVC and aluminium are 100 percent recyclable. Since profine is a global group, we also get our products certified by region-specific certifying bodies for energy conservation, sustainability, etc.

With this acquisition, how do you plan to collaborate with architects and structural engineers to integrate your products effectively? 
Architects play a very important role, especially because facade systems are integrated at a very initial stage compared to doors and windows, which come at a much later stage. So, it is important to collaborate with architects to specify how the building will look with façade systems, what will be featured, etc. EFP has already been coordinating and collaborating with architects. We plan to take this collaboration to the next level with our team and their contacts, ensuring architects remain our first point of contact. We also plan to collaborate with structural engineers because they are equally important in designing high rises, which require accurate wind load calculations and moment of inertia analysis. While clients and builders often focus on commercials, architects are essential to making the structure viable and possible.

For more details, visit: https://www.profine-group.com/en/

9