Heywood Williams Group PLC has announced that it plans to sell its Plastics Division (including Spectus and Kestrel/BCE) following a strategic review. In future, Heywood Williams will focus on its specialist distribution businesses.

The Group's main businesses are focused on the distribution of branded building products and are the Hardware Division (including Mila, Door Panels and Window Ware) and LaSalle Bristol (in North America).

The Plastics Division was until recently was acknowledged the UK market leader in PVC extrusions for windows and cellular building products. The division had gone through a difficult period in 2003 and 2004, but the company claims that management changes and the introduction of the new Elite range of window systems has put it back on track.

Robert Barr, Chief Executive of Heywood Williams, said: ‘Despite significant progress being made at Plastics we have taken the decision to sell the Division to accelerate the achievement of our aim of creating a focused branded building products distribution group. We intend to complete the sale in 2005’.

n Heywood’s decision to pull out of plastics comes at a very difficult time: There can be few prospective buyers, and surely more attractive prospects for sale. Last year HW suffered heavy losses in the liquidation of Coldseal, which it part-owned, causing £2.5 million historic debt this year alone. After losing so much in the Coldseal ordeal the Group will be looking to get a good price for the Plastics Division, but this too seems unlikely.

Source

Glass Age