Chinese firm buys cladding contractor Permasteelisa for £426m

Cladding contractor Permasteelisa has been bought by a Chinese firm for €467m (£426m).

Shenzhen-based Grandland has acquired 100% of the Italian company’s shares from Japanese building materials giant Lixil, which owned Permasteelisa.

Grandland is a design and construction business which generated revenue of ¥10.86bn (£1.27bn) in 2016. The firm describes itself as an “architectural decoration” specialist.

Permasteelisa has an annual turnover of €1.4bn (£1.28).

A statement from the Veneto-based company said the deal “will create the biggest, most comprehensive curtain wall player in the world”.

Following the takeover, Permasteelisa will continue to operate as a separate entity, focusing “on avant-garde architectures and top end, high-quality projects”. CEO Riccardo Mollo will stay on in his role.

Permasteelisa has worked on signature buildings such as the Shard in London, Apple’s new HQ in California and the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

It was recently at the centre of a high court case in London, where its client Lendlease was ordered to pay £14.8m after glass panels installed by Permasteelisa on a City tower fell to the street below.  

“Combining Permasteelisa’s position as a leader in the market, and its scale across EMEA, North and South America as well as parts of Asia, along with Grandland’s industrial integration capabilities and strength in China, will create an even a bigger player in the curtain wall segment globally,” said Mollo.

“While Permasteelisa will maintain its operating independence, the opportunities for operating synergies with Grandland are tremendous.”