HLE Glascoat

HLE Glascoat completed the acquisition of OMERAS GmbH and its subsidiary OMERAS Store GmbH on August 18, 2025, for €2.75 million, financed entirely through internal accruals. OMERAS, with a 187-year heritage, specializes in architectural facades, vitreous enamel coating, and glass-fused-to-steel tanks. This acquisition is transformational, extending HLE's core strength in glass lining from chemical process equipment into infrastructure, architectural, and renewable energy applications, broadening its horizon and strengthening its position as a diversified global engineering and technology company.

In 2024, OMERAS reported revenues of €21.9 million with a gross margin of 54.3%, but EBITDA compressed to 4% and PAT was negative €0.46 million due to pandemic disruptions, energy costs, and project delays. HLE Glascoat is confident in restoring profitability within 3-4 quarters, leveraging its engineering skills, financial discipline, and supply chain efficiencies. The company expects OMERAS to achieve mid-teen EBITDA margins within 1-2 years and contribute €20-25 million in revenue by FY27.

The acquisition includes a 21,000 square-meter facility in Lauter-Bernsbach, Germany, comprising land, a factory building, equipment, and intangibles like the OMERAS brand and technical know-how. The current market value of the real estate is under €1 million. The facility currently operates at below 50% capacity utilization, offering substantial scope for growth without significant immediate CAPEX, though some incremental CAPEX for balancing equipment may be needed. The acquired equipment is state-of-the-art, including laser cutting lines and automation in metalworking and glass lining.

OMERAS currently has an order book of approximately €7 million, with an inquiry pipeline of about €28 million. The order book primarily consists of tanks and facades, with biogas projects under discussion. HLE Glascoat has selectively acquired profitable orders, avoiding problematic EPC contracts and associated liabilities, ensuring a clean slate for execution over the next 12-18 months for finalized pipeline orders.

The acquisition offers significant cross-selling opportunities, particularly for tanks and silos, which align with HLE's existing customer base. The manufacturing processes for architectural panels and tanks/silos are nearly identical, ensuring operational synergy and capacity utilization. This move diversifies HLE Glascoat's portfolio away from its reliance on chemical and pharmaceutical markets, tapping into growing sectors like water/wastewater infrastructure, renewable energy (biogas), and architectural projects globally.

OMERAS's European base opens doors in Europe and the Middle East, while positioning HLE for tender-based projects in Asia Pacific, Africa, and Latin America. The timing aligns with industry tailwinds such as the European Green Deal and global investments in water/wastewater infrastructure (projected to exceed $100 billion annually by 2030). The company also sees opportunities in modernizing transport hubs and clean rooms, and plans to introduce OMERAS products to the Indian market, leveraging its international credibility.

The acquisition, valued at €2.75 million, was financed through internal accruals and does not add to HLE Glascoat's debt, nor does it stretch the balance sheet. It is considered value-accretive and is expected to be EPS accretive within 2-3 quarters (worst-case 3 quarters). The acquisition was made at a value less than the inherent asset value of OMERAS, with the book value of acquired assets being approximately €6 billion, ensuring a positive impact on ROE and ROCE.

HLE Glascoat's pharmaceutical business (API segment) is performing well, showing double-digit growth across India, Europe, and the US, with investments continuing in the sector. The company is also actively innovating for emerging areas like peptide production, leveraging existing equipment (ANFDs and dryers) and capabilities to meet new market demands, having already received and supplied orders for this application.