Swiss composites company Gurit has agreed to buy JSB group from private equity owner Verdane Capital for 520 million Danish krone ($80 million), subject to certain closing conditions.

Headquartered in Ringkobing, Denmark, JSB is the market leader for core material kits for wind turbine blades with kitting operations in Denmark, Spain, Turkey, the US, China, and a new facility to be built in Mexico.  The company employs some 560 people and expects to generate a turnover of around 120 million Swiss francs in 2018.

Gurit said the acquisition of JSB’s downstream core kitting operations complements its full range of Kerdyn Green PET, Corecell SAN and PVC, and Balsaflex balsa wood structural core materials.

Commenting on the deal, Frank Virenfeldt Nielsen, JSB’s CEO, said: “To support consolidation and globalization in the wind industry - scale and technology are key to add value. Combining JSB`s and Gurit`s capabilities into a dedicated product and supply chain powerhouse for the global wind blade industry will drive down cost of energy for our customers.”

Although the cost of wind power is said to have dropped significantly in recent years, the technology still requires a higher investment than that for conventional fossil-based generators. However, many countries are offering subsidies to cut the cost of installing wind turbines.

Gurit expects the transaction to close by mid-October. The JSB operations will then form a new Gurit business, although it will retain its name as a product brand. Operational synergies will be exploited starting from 2019.