Building on their history of project-based cooperation, German blow moulding machine manufacturers Kautex Maschinenbau (Bonn; www.kautex-group.com) and Rikutec (Altenkirchen; www.rikutec.de) have entered into a new agreement whereby Kautex will take over international sales and service for Rikutec equipment. In return, Kautex will be able to expand its product portfolio by the addition of Rikutec’s multilayer accumulator heads.

“The intended cooperation is not a joint venture,” emphasised Kautex managing director Andreas Lichtenauer, adding that both companies will retain their individual corporate identity.

A specialist in large-capacity containers and heat storage tanks, Rikutec employs some 130 workers at its site in Altenkirchen as well as sales offices in the USA and Korea. The company has made a name for itself for the production of multilayer accumulator heads for containers of up to 10,000 l.

Kautex’s international workforce of 400 last generated sales of EUR 70m. The company operates subsidiaries in Italy, China and the USA.