Following the acquisition of the majority interest of Friatec AG (PO Box 710261, D-68222 Mannheim) by Glynwed International plc (De Montfort House, High Street, Coleshill, GB-Birmingham B46 3BP) – see PIE No. 20, 1998 – the Glynwed Group is now the world market leader in plastics piping systems, with sales of approx. EUR 870m. All in all, the group has grown by just under one sixth to take total sales to about EUR 2.1bn (Glynwed´s sales in 1997: EUR 1.8bn; Friatec´s sales in 1997: EUR 332m) and now has a workforce of around 14,800 (Glynwed 12,600, Friatec 2,200).The synergies from this merger will come both through the expansion of the plastics pipe activities generally, and also from a stronger world market presence for the two export-oriented companies. Friatec is strengthening its existing activities above all in Scandinavia and eastern and south-eastern Europe. To make optimum use of these synergies, the Glynwed Group has been given a new management structure under the leadership of its ceo, Tony Wilson. The reorganisation came into effect on January 1, 1999.The newly created Executive Committee consists of a three-person board made up of Dr. Andrea Catanzano, Prof. Friedrich Reutner, Managing Director of Friatec, and Peter Holden, head of Durapipe S&LP, which reports to Wilson. One of the main tasks of this board is to coordinate and integrate the pipe activities into the Glynwed Group. Catanzano has worldwide responsibility for the manufacture and sale of plastics piping systems. Prof. Reutner is responsible for the Friatec activities in the Group, and is also taking over product development for the entire pipe activities of the Glynwed Group. Peter Nolden will continue to be responsible for the operations of Durapipe and for the metal sleeves segment, where he will work with his predecessor Albert Bocking until his retirement in 2000. Coordination of the worldwide activities of the electric welding systems product group is to be looked after by Georg R. Schmitz, who is responsible for development, production and marketing of the Frialen, Friafit, Friamat, Durafuse and Innoge brands.“The new management structure of the Glynwed Group brings together the wide-ranging know-how that exists in the individual parts of the company. As a result, we will be able to exploit to the full the enormous numbers of synergies in production, marketing and product development, so that we can consistently expand our world market leadership in pipe systems,” said Prof. Reutner, commenting on the expanded management at Glynwed. In his opinion, one important growth market will involve the renewal of outdated gas and water pipes, often over half a century old, in many countries throughout the world.Friatec Annual Report 1997 (German): PIE-No. 42719.