Through a directed issue, Fouriertransform has acquired 37 per cent of the shares in FlexProp AB in Halmstad, Sweden. The company specializes in developing and selling light and robust fixtures and grippers made from composite materials, primarily for the automotive and aircraft industries. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Strömberg Innovation AB, which is in turn 100 per cent owned by its founder, Karl-Otto Strömberg.
The company has built up unique know-how and a promising market position with customers e.g. VAG (Audi) and Volvo. Using the company’s specialist knowledge of composite materials, product weights can, in certain cases, be reduced to less than one-tenth of their original weight. The increased flexibility and simpler handling that is achieved through the conversion of production lines leads to significant cost and environmental savings for customers.
“Fouriertransform is currently making its fourth investment within a short period in a promising development company. As with the three preceding investments, this company has the automotive industry as the end customer. FlexProp has made considerable progress in the sales phase and has close partnerships with a number of vehicle manufacturers,” says Per Nordberg, CEO of Fouriertransform.
“The company has come off to a strong beginning; FlexProp secured its first commercial order in 2007 for 28 fixtures for Volvo Trucks’ cabin plant in Umeå and in the autumn of 2009, Audi decided to manufacture a pilot line based on FlexProp technology. The company also has contacts with Scania, Vinci/Airbus Thyssen/Krupp and BMW. This is the right time for FlexProp to bring in a stable owner that can supply know-how and capital to enable the company’s advancement in the market,” says Karl-Otto Strömberg, CEO of FlexProp AB.
“FlexProp is a well-managed company that needs experienced capital to expand. The company currently has four full-time employees and expects to have about ten to 12 employees and large sections of its manufacturing outsourced to subcontractors by 2014. Fouriertransform can furnish knowledge and capital at a stage in which it is crucial not to lose speed,” says Lars-Olof Gustavsson, Chairman of Fouriertransform.
Technical description
The manufacturing of cars, trucks and aircraft, requires high-precision fixtures that position chassis components for welding. Accordingly, these fixtures have historically been manufactured using steel, which makes them difficult to handle and extremely heavy, with fixtures in the industry frequently weighing more than 1,000 kilograms.
FlexProp has developed the same fixtures using truss structures built from composite materials. Using a combination of advanced materials and patented methods, these fixtures can be manufactured with the same level of precision as conventional fixtures, but with extreme mechanical properties, which reduces their weight by up to 90 per cent. These unique mechanical properties have a favorable effect on the environment, investment costs and reinvestment costs at the same time as they tangibly bolster the flexibility of the process.
Fouriertransform AB (FTAB) is a venture capital company founded and owned by the Swedish state for the purpose of investing in companies in the automotive industry. FTAB has a commercial focus and its investments are expected to generate a long-term market-based return.
For further information:
Per Nordberg, CEO, Fouriertransform AB, Tel +46 8 506 503 50
Karl-Otto Strömberg, CEO, FlexProp AB, Tel +46 35 18 48 30
Last updated
2010-06-03