The Finnish sustainability fund UB Forest Industry Green Growth Fund (UB FIGG) and the speciality chemicals group ALTANA are investing in the technology company NORDTREAT.
NORDTREAT relies on bio-based raw materials, and its products comply with the latest fire protection regulations. The company’s NORFLAM® technology is already being used successfully to protect more than 2,000 buildings and structures around the world.
NORDTREAT was established in 2015. Since then, the company has expanded its product and service portfolio for bio-based, environmentally friendly flame retardants. In addition to the investment by UB FIGG and ALTANA AG, the company has also agreed with ALTANA’s BYK division to develop a bio-based flame retardant additive.
“With its certified fire retardants and flame retardant systems, NORDTREAT has already developed environmentally friendly products and successfully launched them on the market. At the same time, we are seeing a growing demand for bio-based solutions for flame retardant additives. Building on this, we are pooling our innovative strength to jointly develop novel, bio-based additives for fire protection,” says BYK Division President Dr. Jörg Hinnerwisch.
Sakari Saarela, a partner at UB FIGG comments: "NORDTREAT is an exciting company with excellent products, replacing legacy fire retardancy products with a new, innovative bio-based alternative. We are very happy to support NORDTREAT’s growth, serving especially the wood-based construction industry in Europe and globally. We value our partnership with ALTANA in the investment due to their expertise and resources in the speciality chemicals sector, and we are looking forward to the cooperation.”
“In ALTANA and UB FIGG, we have gained two strong partners for our sustainable business model who will help us to fully exploit the growth potential of our technology,” says Aki Borgentorp, CEO of NORDTREAT. “With ALTANA's BYK division, we also have an innovative partner with whom we can jointly drive the transformation towards more environmentally friendly product solutions.”
The parties have agreed not to disclose the investment amount.
ALTANA is a global leader in true speciality chemicals. The Group offers innovative, environmentally compatible solutions for coating manufacturers, paint and plastics processors, the printing and packaging industries, the cosmetics sector, and the electrical and electronics industry. The product range includes additives, speciality coatings and adhesives, effect pigments, sealants and compounds, impregnating resins and varnishes, and testing and measuring instruments. ALTANA’s four divisions, BYK, ECKART, ELANTAS, and ACTEGA, all occupy a leading position in their target markets with respect to quality, product solution expertise, innovation, and service.
Headquartered in Wesel, Germany, the ALTANA Group has 64 production facilities and 68 service and research laboratories worldwide. Throughout the Group, around 8,000 people work to ensure the worldwide success of ALTANA. In 2023, ALTANA achieved sales of more than € 2.7 billion. About 7 per cent of the total sales is invested in research and development each year. Its high earning power and high growth rate make ALTANA one of the world’s most innovative, fastest-growing, and most profitable chemical companies.
BYK is a leading global supplier of speciality chemicals. The company’s innovative additives and differentiated solutions optimize product and material properties as well as production and application processes. Amongst other things, BYK additives improve scratch resistance and surface gloss, the mechanical strength or flow behaviour of materials, and properties such as UV- and light stability or flame retardancy. In the field of quality assurance, BYK’s measuring and testing instruments serve to effectively assess appearance and physical properties.
The company’s customers include manufacturers of coatings and printing inks, plastics, adhesives and sealants, as well as cleaners, floor coatings, and lubricants. BYK additives are also successfully used in the construction chemistry, oil and gas, and foundry industries.
BYK has a global network of subsidiaries and operates production sites in Germany (Wesel, Kempen, Moosburg, Schkopau, Geretsried), the Netherlands (Deventer, Denekamp, Nijverdal), and the UK (Widnes), in the USA (Wallingford, Chester, Columbia, Earth City, Gonzales, Louisville, Pittsford), and in China (Shanghai, Tongling).
The company is part of the ALTANA Group and employs a workforce of more than 2,500 people worldwide.
UB FIGG is a private equity fund investing in companies focused on plastic and other fossil-based material replacements, higher value and more efficient use of wood and agricultural raw material side streams and greater use of these raw materials across a wide range of intermediate and end uses. Through its investments, the Fund helps the forest and bio-based industries to create solutions to mitigate climate change. UB FIGG is a signatory of Operating Principles for Impact Management and reports on the environmental and climate impact of its investments. UB FIGG started its operations in January 2023 with over EUR 100 million in investment commitments. UB FIGG currently accepts further investments from professional investors.
NORDTREAT is a Finnish technology company founded in 2015, specializing in the development and production of environmentally friendly, high-performance flame retardants. Utilizing bio-based raw materials, NORDTREAT's products comply with the latest fire protection regulations and have been used to protect over 2,000 buildings worldwide. The company's flagship technology, NORFLAM®, is designed to provide superior fire protection while maintaining environmental sustainability. NORDTREAT's innovative solutions are aimed at meeting the growing global demand for safer, more sustainable construction materials.
