Fortaleza Capital acted as exclusive corporate finance advisor on the acquisition of Honicel

About Honicel: Honicel, established in the 1950’s, develops and manufactures paper-based honeycomb structures that are used as core materials in sandwich constructions, originally in the aviation industry and nowadays in an ever-growing variety of applications. These include doors (of busses, trains, elevators and rooms), partitions, furniture and automotive panels (e.g., sunshades, spare tire covers, trunk plates, door trim panels, hat boards and roofing).

Honicel’s paper honeycomb is 100% made from FSC-certified materials and can be fully recycled. Its unique characteristics include: excellent strength/bending/load bearing capacity, outstanding deformation and shock absorption properties, light weight, versatile (easily adapts to any shape), easy to process and cost effective.With its state-of-the-art machinery, oftentimes developed in-house, the company manufactures its paper honeycomb for both large corporations and SME-enterprises. Long-lasting and durable win-win customer relationships are key to Honicel’s proposition.

A majority stake in Honicel has been acquired by Dirk Schut, Industry Partner Paper & Board at Fortaleza Capital and previously CEO and co-owner of solid board manufacturer SolidPack. Mr. Schut has also been appointed CEO of Honicel, effective immediately.

Dirk Schut in response to the transaction: “Honicel is sizeable market player occupying a unique niche position in the paper-based industry with an outstanding reputation and a track record of continuous innovation. Honicel paper honeycomb is clearly recognised by more and more customers as a core material in sandwich constructions with unparalleled performance characteristics. We will continue to focus on our long-term customer relationships and explore further avenues for innovative growth of our exceptional and environmentally friendly products”.

Honicel will continue to operate in the current form and at the same location in Zelhem (the Netherlands) and its current management team, led by Dirk Schut, will remain responsible for daily business operations.