Dilsen-Stokkem, December 10, 2024 – Alro Group has submitted a request for a judicial reorganization procedure. This request is a proactive and deliberate step to position the company more strongly for the future.

Strong foundation, challenging market conditions

Although Alro Group is currently operationally strong in the market and distinguishes itself in the value chain of its sector, external factors have put pressure on the company in recent months. The general macroeconomic context has led to a decline in production volume, particularly in the truck segment. The negative trend within the automotive industry is causing a disruption in our market: insourcing of work and decreasing popularity of certain electric models. Significant inflation and interest rate increases in recent years have additionally resulted in higher costs and pressure on margins.

Priority choice for stability and a sustainable future

The choice for this recovery plan reflects the management and board of directors’ commitment to addressing these challenges in a forward-looking manner. This step provides the space to take deliberate measures, intensify collaboration with partners, and optimize the use of internal resources. Management emphasizes the importance of its employees for the operational strength of the company and considers them a crucial pillar for the future. “We are taking this step to ensure the stability and continuity of the entire company,” says CEO Jan Craenen. “As a management team, we have consciously chosen a solution that paves the way for a sustainable future. During this recovery plan, we remain fully operational and are doing everything we can to provide the quality and service that our customers expect.”

Alro has more than 30 years of experience in the KTL coating of metal parts. It is one of the best metal protection technologies available. Our current KTL line has been in operation since 1992 but a lot has changed in the automotive sector since then. Demand for KTL coatings for EV battery casings and parts keeps on rising. To meet that rising demand, we need extra capacity – lots of extra capacity, so we built a second KTL line at the Asitec site. That line has been operational since 27 June 2022. The new line has doubled our capacity so that we can help solve our customers’ new challenges. Now we are more than ready for the future.

Alro responds to growth of electric cars
In recent years, Alro has launched two major e-mobility projects. Both Audi and Volvo were facing challenges in terms of the treatment of their EVs’ battery covers. We developed a number of innovative technologies ourselves to overcome these challenges. There are many other players in the automotive industry jumping on the EV bandwagon. As a result, there is an increasing demand for battery part coatings. During the KTL process we use a current to apply an organic coat of paint in a 90,000-litre cataphoretic dip bath. The coat of paint is attracted by the exchange of electrons and is then deposited on the part. That is how we create an extremely even, sealed coat of paint.

Twice the capacity will result in additional projects in the future
“Because of the positive growth with our current customers, we needed to increase our capacity. That is why last year we decided to establish a second KTL line at the Asitec site,” Sales & Projects Director Dirk Broekhoven says. The new line has been operational since 27 June and has doubled our capacity. We can currently handle the organic growth generated by our existing customers, but we still have a lot of capacity available for new customers. The new KTL line responds to increasing market demand. “We see that a large capacity will be needed in the coming years to process the battery parts. We are already anticipating this now and have acquired additional capacity to realise more projects in the future,” Technical Director Carl Bruynseels adds.

The added value of the new KTL line
The first line was already one of the biggest in Europe. There was therefore no need to make the new line much bigger. Both lines are identical to each other in terms of pretreatment and KTL coatings. As the new line has the same size, it can also be used for KTL coating large parts such as EV battery casings and battery parts. The only difference is that the new KTL line is wider and can handle even more weight. The latter applies to both the conveyor system and the furnaces. It also allows us to apply a thicker KTL coat. The normal thickness is 20 µm, but the new KTL line enables us to go up to 35 µm and even more than that.

We handle all the engineering ourselves from A to Z
Our know-how has remained in-house, but for certain issues such as water treatment we did rely on external specialists. “Our own engineering and automation have enabled us to build complex paint treatment plants. We also expand that to the projects for our clients, in which we use our own services to tailor each client’s customised process. This allows us to take care of everything for our customers,” Dirk says. Alro’s Power & Free transport system also makes us very flexible. It allows us to easily lock in and lock out the paint racks holding the parts.

Thanks to our in-house engineering, Alro Group can respond to market demands very easily. Our patented fire protection coating system is another excellent example. Thanks to this innovative coating system, battery casings can withstand temperatures of up to 1,800°C for up to 30 minutes. It therefore significantly extends the time people have to safely exit the vehicle, which now exceeds the current Global Technical Regulation No. 20 for the automotive industry. “We have what we need to support the opportunities that are coming our way and provide an optimal solution to all our customers,” Dirk concludes.

Gimv acquires a majority stake in fast-growing Alro Group, which specialises in industrial coatings for car and truck parts. The transaction is part of a family succession. Gimv acquires the majority stake from the founding Thijs family. The current management remains on board and its reinvestment aims to grow the company further.

Alro Group (Dilsen-Stokkem – Belgium, www.alro-group.com) was established by the Thijs family in 1976. The company grew from a small coating company to a well-established group with several sites in Western and Central Europe. The group specialised in coating or painting plastic and metal automotive parts.

Alro’s excellent customer focus and huge variety of coating options allows a flexible response to the increasing demand for customised solutions. The company’s volume capacity is significant: it has around 1,000 employees and more than 20 coating plants that process more than 100,000 products a day with modern production lines and data-driven processes. Alro’s wide customer base currently includes almost all well-known names in the car and truck industry.

As a Tier 1 coating supplier, Alro Group is committed to strong customer relationships: OEM truck manufacturers appreciate its well-organised supply (Just In Time / Just In Sequence), its extensive flexibility to paint in more than 1,000 colours and its assembly of many different parts. Alro Group has recently also developed an innovative solution for coating EV battery casings. This means the company is perfectly placed to play an important role in the growth of the EV market. Alro Group is also responding to growing demand for contrast colours increasingly sought by car manufacturers to personalise the appearance of their vehicles.

Alro Group has been committed to growth ever since its inception: strengthened by the arrival of the new management team, the company has undergone a positive transformation with a continued focus on delivering more added value and flexibility. Gimv’s investment supports the management in its efforts to further realise its growth ambitions for Alro Group.

Christophe Van Quickenborne, a Partner in Gimv’s Smart Industries team, puts it this way: “Alro Group is a perfect addition to Smart Industries’ holdings in advanced manufacturing companies. Our experience with other successful automotive investments has shown us how important it is for companies to offer significant flexibility and product differentiation to their OEM customers as their partner of choice. We share the management’s ambition to further maximise Alro Group’s strengths in the excellent growth opportunities that are presenting themselves. Alro Group already has a strong foundation of a thorough, data-driven approach, strong engineering capabilities and great flexibility and customer focus.”

Jan Craenen, CEO of Alro Group, adds: “We are convinced that Gimv is a very stable local partner with extensive knowledge about the automotive industry, so this transaction marks an important step in Alro Group’s continuity. The current management will continue to run our operations and will work together with Gimv on our further growth and innovative customer solutions. On behalf of the entire management, we specifically wish to thank the Thijs family for the opportunities it has provided. We would also like to thank Kumulus Partners for its expert support in this transaction. And last but not least, we express our sincere thanks to all the Alro Group staff, who have made Alro the magnificent company it is today.”

Luc Thijs confirms: “On behalf of myself and the family, I can say that I am very pleased to leave Alro Group in the hands of the management with the support of a very solid partner, Gimv. I am convinced that the management, which was already a shareholder and in charge of the company’s operations, and Gimv are ready for the next phase in Alro Group’s history. As no family succession is assured, this transaction guarantees Alro Group’s long-term continuity.”

The transaction is subject to the customary terms and conditions, which includes approval by the competition authorities. No further financial details will be disclosed.

In 2021, Alro participated in the ‘The Battery Show’ in Stuttgart, Germany, an event with more than 400 exhibitors. The main focus of this 3-day event was battery technology and e-mobility. We were delighted to welcome visitors from leading OEM customers, R&D engineers and battery charger manufacturers looking for fire protection solutions.

 

As expected, there was a great deal of interest in our fire protection coating, e-coating and laser stripping options. Alro is constantly working on tomorrow’s world and is therefore futureproof.

Audi launched the revolutionary all-electric e-tron from its Brussels plant. Alro Dilsen electrocoats the large aluminium parts that contain the batteries for these cars.

WCA-Alro in Genk also coats the chrome-look parts of the front and rear bumper. Because both the large battery casing parts and other additional processes such as laser treatment need to be executed automatically, ALRO invested in a new system with several robots.