Residential Garage Door – Cardo Becomes One Of Europe's Biggest Suppliers

Cardo Door AB has acquired all the shares in the German group Normstahl, which is one of Europe`s biggest manufacturers of garage doors for private use. Normstahl has roughly 370 employees and turnover in 1996 amounted to about SEK 540 million. The seller is the Döring family. The acquisition is a stage in Cardo Door`s strategy for continued growth in the residential garage door segment.

Normstahl is a well-run company whose profitability is almost on a par with that of Cardo Door. The company was founded in 1946 and started its door activities in the early 60s. In addition to the main unit in Moosburg outside Munich, there are subsidiaries in Austria and Switzerland. The company has an extensive distribution network, and Normstahl is a very strong brand. In terms of sales, its biggest markets are Germany, where the company occupies third position, and Austria and Switzerland, where Normstahl is the market leader.

As a result of this acquisition, Cardo Door is increasing its garage-door volume fourfold, gaining access to a comprehensive range of products and becoming one of Europe`s three leading manufacturers of garage doors.

"This acquisition gives us an extremely strong market position in Europe. What's more, we are gaining access to a distribution network that is very well developed in the major German garage-door market as well as in Austria and Switzerland. This gives us excellent sales channels for our new Crawford Private garage door," declares Kjell Svensson, president and CEO of the Cardo group.

"Normstahl`s products, which also conform well to the increasingly far-reaching European safety regulations, will be marketed through Cardo Door`s organization in those markets where Cardo Door is established but which are not covered by Normstahl," says Kjell Svensson.

This year, the Crawford Private, the new garage door introduced in Sweden during the autumn of 1996, was successfully launched in several European countries. The new garage door, like the acquisition in December 1996 of the Swedish garage door manufacturer Carpro, and now the acquisition of Normstahl, marks a stage in Cardo Door's strategy for rapid growth in the residential garage door segment.

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Pat Adams is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.garage-doors-n-openers.com. Find everything you need to know about free garage plans, commercial and residential openers, installation tips, and more.