Etex

Etex Group NV (Etex) is a Belgian multinational corporation founded in 1905 and headquartered in Zaventem, Belgium. The group has an annual revenue of €3.808 million in 2023 and 13,777 employees spread across 45 countries. Etex Group is still largely owned by the founding Emsens family.

History
The company was founded in 1905 in Belgium as Eternit by Alphonse Emsens, who had acquired a license to produce cement reinforced with asbestos fibers, known as asbestos cement. This technique was patented in 1900 by Austrian inventor Ludwig Hatschek. Although Hatschek initially wanted to market the product worldwide himself, he faced difficulties in securing patents in various countries, leading him to license his technique to hundreds of companies globally.


 * In 1930, Eternit expanded in Europe and began exporting to Latin America, with its first non-European branch opening in Argentina in 1937.
 * In 1981, The German company Promat was acquired, active in the development of fire-resistant building materials.
 * In 2011, Etex acquired an 80% stake in Lafarge's European and Latin American gypsum division. The remaining 20% was purchased in 2013.
 * In 2017, the Spanish company Pladur was acquired. The acquisition was completed in 2018.
 * In 2019, Etex sold Umbelino Monteiro, a specialist in the ceramic roof tile industry, to French group Edilians. That same year Etex also sold roofing specialist Marley to Inflexion Private Equity.
 * In 2020, the subsidiary Creaton was sold to the French company Terreal. That same year Etex acquired FSi Limited, a UK supplier of intumescent sealants and ablative-coated stonewool batts.
 * In 2021, various acquisitions followed, including Sigmat, a market leader in the UK for lightweight steel frames production; Horizon Offsite, also active in steel frame production in the UK and Ireland; Evolusion Innovation, an offsite engineering and consultancy firm; and a majority stake in e-Loft, an offsite construction company headquartered in Ploufragan, France.
 * In 2022, the Spanish company URSA Insulation was integrated into Etex Group.
 * In 2023, the Danish insulation specialist Skamol was acquired. In June, Remagin was launched, a new brand focusing on offsite construction, grouping existing Etex brands (EOS framing, Horizon Offsite, and Sigmat). In October, it was announced that Etex would acquire the fiber cement and plasterboard divisions of the Australian company BGC, with the acquisition completed in March 2024.  In December, the fiber cement innovator SCALAMID was acquired.