As the federal government prepares to pump $550 billion in new funding into transportation and other infrastructure projects under a new spending plan adopted by Congress last month, a Chattanooga-based geotextiles manufacturer is poised to grow its erosion control systems under a new owner.
Chattanooga-based Propex, a leading North American geosynthetics manufacturer with more than $100 million a year in sales to the construction, transportation, flood protection and other industries, was acquired last month by Solmax of Montreal, Canada, a geosynthetics pioneer that has grown to over $1 billion in annual sales. Propex CEO Mike Gorey said the new owners should help expand both the market reach and new product development for Propex.
“The combination of strengths between our companies will lead to long-term growth and increased capacity to address the expanding demand for environmentally sustainable solutions,” Gorey said.
Terms of the recent purchase were not disclosed, but company officials said Propex is positioned to capitalize on the coming investments in infrastructure to build in a greener manner with more vegetation and less of a carbon footprint than conventional rip rock and other construction methods.
“This strategic acquisition enables Solmax to expand its sophisticated geosynthetics product portfolio for the benefit of engineers, distributors, contractors, operators and others working in the environmental containment and civil infrastructure sectors,” said Jean-Louis Vangeluwe, president of Solmax. “As a global leader in the industry, Solmax is accelerating the promotion and awareness of highly technical and specialized geosynthetic solutions, reducing the carbon footprint of conventional building solutions and mitigating the environmental impact of human activities.”