2007-04-10 00:32 Źródło: Warsaw Business Journal
Hot prospects
The company wants to raise several dozen million złoty from the IPO, however, the final value of the offer will be set just before the prospectus is turned in. According to Andrzej Zawistowski, CEO at Seco/Warwick, the money will be spent mainly on acquisitions of foreign companies and product development.
Global strategy
Currently, Seco/Warwick consists of five companies with the leading one, Seco/Warwick SA, based in Poland, and several other subsidiaries worldwide.
„We want to be present in the five most important global markets. This is Europe (including Russia), North America, South America, and especially China and India. In all of the regions, we already have or intend to take over a local producer. We already have our own company here in Europe and in the US. Recently, we opened a branch in China. Now we see the Indian market as the most urgent. We are also looking at the Latin American market, in the longer-term perspective,” says Zawistowski.
Paweł Sikora, director at BRE Corporate Finance, says industrial development in China and India is increasing, so products that are used to further production of devices such as computers, planes or other complex goods are in demand.
According to Zawistowski, 80 percent of the funds raised from the IPO will go towards acquisitions. „We want to take over two companies, one in India and the other in the US. The latter brings in a completely new technology and new customers than those we currently deal with,” he says.
Seco/Warwick is already negotiating with the India-based company, whose turnover reaches $10 (zł.28.7) million. In addition, all the companies that have been taken over have shared their know-how globally. „We want to build an international team that works on the same projects but implements their own local ideas and passes the experience on to branches of the company in other parts of the world,” he adds.
The company is looking to enter the markets as soon as possible. „Operating on these markets from the European perspective is very difficult. In China we currently have an insignificant market share, but we want to be a serious player there,” he adds.
Product development
Seco/Warwick‘s CEO says that the remaining 20 percent of funds from the IPO will go to the development of the firm‘s products.
The company has four main products: vacuum furnaces, atmosphere furnaces, brazing systems, and aluminum heat treatment and melting solutions. „With each of the products, we have different positions on various markets. Last year, vacuum furnaces accounted for some 40 percent of our total production. We have our own patents, our own solutions. We are cooperating with Łód� Technical University on that project and we are investing in research and development,” says Zawistowski. „Currently our largest market is in Western Europe and North America. In terms of that part of the market, we are a top-three company.”
Market leader
According to Zawistowski, the company is the leader in the market for aluminum brazing in furnaces with controlled atmospheres (known as CAB - controlled atmosphere brazing). „We are a definite leader in that part of the market. This year, in Europe, we have taken everything that we were able to take. It is a very specialized market,” says Zawistowski.
He also says that the markets for atmosphere heat processing and aluminum processing are huge, but so is the competition. „We still have room for development,” he adds.
Zawistowski says the Polish market is also increasing, although it currently only amounts to some 15-20 percent of Seco/Warwick‘s production capacity.
Over 55 percent of the firm‘s exports go to Western Europe, and some 30 percent is sold in the US. Former Soviet republics and Asia each buy roughly six percent of the company‘s production.
Polish-American cooperation
The main, Polish branch of the company has been in operation since a joint venture at the beginning of the 1990s.
BRE Corporate Finance‘s Sikora says that the people behind Seco/Warwick gained experience in the state-owned company Elterma. They opened a small firm and eventually took over the old company. „They also formed the joint venture with the Americans, whom they eventually acquired. Seco/Warwick Corporation grew, but the Polish company grew much faster,” he says.
„In 1991, we brought in the know-how. The Americans had the money. We had a great product. Operating as a company partially US-owned we could get orders from abroad,” says Zawistowski.
Zawistowski notes that the company is now in the process of consolidation. Since the full acquisition of Elterma and Seco/Warwick Corporation, revenues have been steadily increasing.
„Initially, the revenues of Seco/Warwick increased by 100 percent, then by 50 percent and now by some 15-20 percent on average,” says Zawistowski.
In 2006 Seco/Warwick‘s revenues amounted to zł.224 million compared to zł.209 million in 2005. Net profits reached zł.24.5 million last year, compared to zł.16 million in 2005.
„We estimate that thanks to our acquisitions, our revenues should rise by 50 percent,” declared Zawistowski.
Andrzej Wróbel
�wiebodzin-based Seco/Warwick, a leading global manufacturer of industrial heat treatment equipment and non-ferrous reverb melting and holding systems, is preparing an issue prospectus. The firm‘s debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange is scheduled for this year.
Global strategy
Currently, Seco/Warwick consists of five companies with the leading one, Seco/Warwick SA, based in Poland, and several other subsidiaries worldwide.
„We want to be present in the five most important global markets. This is Europe (including Russia), North America, South America, and especially China and India. In all of the regions, we already have or intend to take over a local producer. We already have our own company here in Europe and in the US. Recently, we opened a branch in China. Now we see the Indian market as the most urgent. We are also looking at the Latin American market, in the longer-term perspective,” says Zawistowski.
Paweł Sikora, director at BRE Corporate Finance, says industrial development in China and India is increasing, so products that are used to further production of devices such as computers, planes or other complex goods are in demand.
According to Zawistowski, 80 percent of the funds raised from the IPO will go towards acquisitions. „We want to take over two companies, one in India and the other in the US. The latter brings in a completely new technology and new customers than those we currently deal with,” he says.
Seco/Warwick is already negotiating with the India-based company, whose turnover reaches $10 (zł.28.7) million. In addition, all the companies that have been taken over have shared their know-how globally. „We want to build an international team that works on the same projects but implements their own local ideas and passes the experience on to branches of the company in other parts of the world,” he adds.
The company is looking to enter the markets as soon as possible. „Operating on these markets from the European perspective is very difficult. In China we currently have an insignificant market share, but we want to be a serious player there,” he adds.
Product development
Seco/Warwick‘s CEO says that the remaining 20 percent of funds from the IPO will go to the development of the firm‘s products.
The company has four main products: vacuum furnaces, atmosphere furnaces, brazing systems, and aluminum heat treatment and melting solutions. „With each of the products, we have different positions on various markets. Last year, vacuum furnaces accounted for some 40 percent of our total production. We have our own patents, our own solutions. We are cooperating with Łód� Technical University on that project and we are investing in research and development,” says Zawistowski. „Currently our largest market is in Western Europe and North America. In terms of that part of the market, we are a top-three company.”
Market leader
According to Zawistowski, the company is the leader in the market for aluminum brazing in furnaces with controlled atmospheres (known as CAB - controlled atmosphere brazing). „We are a definite leader in that part of the market. This year, in Europe, we have taken everything that we were able to take. It is a very specialized market,” says Zawistowski.
He also says that the markets for atmosphere heat processing and aluminum processing are huge, but so is the competition. „We still have room for development,” he adds.
Zawistowski says the Polish market is also increasing, although it currently only amounts to some 15-20 percent of Seco/Warwick‘s production capacity.
Over 55 percent of the firm‘s exports go to Western Europe, and some 30 percent is sold in the US. Former Soviet republics and Asia each buy roughly six percent of the company‘s production.
Polish-American cooperation
The main, Polish branch of the company has been in operation since a joint venture at the beginning of the 1990s.
BRE Corporate Finance‘s Sikora says that the people behind Seco/Warwick gained experience in the state-owned company Elterma. They opened a small firm and eventually took over the old company. „They also formed the joint venture with the Americans, whom they eventually acquired. Seco/Warwick Corporation grew, but the Polish company grew much faster,” he says.
„In 1991, we brought in the know-how. The Americans had the money. We had a great product. Operating as a company partially US-owned we could get orders from abroad,” says Zawistowski.
Zawistowski notes that the company is now in the process of consolidation. Since the full acquisition of Elterma and Seco/Warwick Corporation, revenues have been steadily increasing.
„Initially, the revenues of Seco/Warwick increased by 100 percent, then by 50 percent and now by some 15-20 percent on average,” says Zawistowski.
In 2006 Seco/Warwick‘s revenues amounted to zł.224 million compared to zł.209 million in 2005. Net profits reached zł.24.5 million last year, compared to zł.16 million in 2005.
„We estimate that thanks to our acquisitions, our revenues should rise by 50 percent,” declared Zawistowski.
Andrzej Wróbel
�wiebodzin-based Seco/Warwick, a leading global manufacturer of industrial heat treatment equipment and non-ferrous reverb melting and holding systems, is preparing an issue prospectus. The firm‘s debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange is scheduled for this year.
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