Melissa Kernea prepares to pick up a load of yarn off of a conveyor belt at Mohawk Industries, Inc. in Dalton, Ga., in this file photo.Mohawk Industries Inc. completed its purchase Friday of the Spano Group, a Belgian panel board manufacturer, for $164 million, or 125 million euros.
Spano makes chip and melamine board, which are used in the building products and furniture industries. The Belgium company generates annual sales of $240 million, or 183 million euros.
Mohawk CEO Jeffrey S. Lorberbaum said the acquisition continues Mohawk's expansion into other lines of floorcovering and building materials. Mohawk bought the European laminate floor manufacturer Unilin Holdings NV last fall for $988 million.
"Spano extends our customer base into new channels of distribution and adds technical expertise and product knowledge which we can leverage across the segment," Lorberbaum said in a statement. "The significant synergies between Unilin and Spano create opportunities to optimize manufacturing assets and processes, raw materials and operational efficiencies."