Armacell is a manufacturer and supplier of industrial foams and flexible insulation materials, based in

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. It has over 3,135

employees Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

and 25 production plants in 16 countries.

History

Armacell was the insulator manufacturing

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

Armstrong World Industries Armstrong World Industries, Inc. is a Pennsylvania corporation incorporated in 1891. It is an international designer and manufacturer of walls and ceilings. Based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, AWI has a global manufacturing network of 26 facilities ...

, until a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

in June 2000. Founder Thomas Armstrong created the division in 1899, when

, started producing insulated corkboard and

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

. In 1954, the division experienced success after launching Armaflex, a flexible technical insulator for pipe connections. In 1960,

laid the foundation for Armstrong Kork GmbH in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

to produce flooring. The company opened its first distribution office in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

as part of their expansion in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. This became the foundation of Armstrong's European headquarters. A new factory was erected in

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...

in 1967, to handle increasing demand for Armaflex. The

1973 oil crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...

led to innovations in heating-system insulators. Growth was propelled by

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

's " Energieeinsparverordnung", a law obliging building owners to construct buildings that use as little energy for heating as possible. In 1984,

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

company Rothrist and its brand Tubolit were taken-over, adding insulations based on

polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging ( plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including bo ...

to the range of products. In 1991, the Münster site was equipped as a center for advanced research for insulation solutions. In June 2000, the insulation division became independent company Armacell International Holding, with all rights to Armaflex and Tubolit. In 2001, Armacell founded a new company division with a focus on technical foams. At the end of 2019, the financial investor Blackstone sold the majority of the capital in Armacell to PAI partners, while the minority shareholder Kirkbi, who has held a stake in Armacell since 2016, increased its stake at the same time.

Expansion and acquisitions

The company expanded into

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

the following year, acquired a Thai producer of technical insulation and founded a new division for technical foams. In 2004, Armacell acquired Ensolite and Oletex and the associated facilities from the US-American RBX group. In 2005, Armacell took over American foam slab stock producer Monarch Rubber and Fagerdala Benelux S.A., a European producer of thermoplastic foams. In 2008, Armacell purchased MDS Leuze, a manufacturer of blank-sheet cable coatings and PropaCene.

References

{{Authority control Chemical companies of Germany Companies established in 2000 Companies based in North Rhine-Westphalia German brands PAI Partners companies