Pipelife

Infobox_Company
company_name = Pipelife
company_
company_type = Private
company_slogan = Pipes for Life!
foundation = 1947 Draka , Polva (NL)
1989, JV between Solvay & Wienerberger
location = flagicon|Austria Austria, Vienna
key_people = CEO - Niels Rune Solgaard-Nielsen; CFO - Marc Vandermensbrugghe
num_employees = 3,000(2006)
industry = Manufacturing - Piping & Plastics
products = Soluforce, Rain-O-Flor, Polsafe, Renoflow
revenue = profit € 875 Million EUR (2007)
net_income = EUR ()
homepage = [http://www.pipelife.com/ Pipelife homepage]

Pipelife is one of the leading plastic pipe system providers in the world. It was established in 1989 as a JV between Solvay of Belgium and Wienerberger of Austria. A special product marketed by Pipelife is an RTP brandname Soluforce, which is an Aramid Reinforced Thermoplastic Pipe (RTP).

History

1989
* Foundation of Pipelife as a Joint Venture of Solvay (Belgium) and Wienerberger (Austria) with activities in Austria, France and Germany. 1990–1993
* First expansion of the Pipelife Group through acquisitions and foundations of companies in Hungary, France, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Czech and the Slovak Republic.

1994
* Integration of the Solvay pipes and fittings activities in The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. Further expansion into Eastern Europe, including operations in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia.

1996
* Start of operations in Poland and Romania

1997
* Acquisition and integration of Davinyl in Sweden; expansion into Croatia

1999
* Marks another very important year for Pipelife. With the acquisition of the Mabo Group, Pipelife achieves a leading position in Northern Europe (Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). Also Wienerberger’s pipe activities in China are integrated in Pipelife.

2000
* First step into the US market with the acquisition of Jet Stream; opening of sales offices in St. Petersburg (RU) and Kiev (UA)

2001–2003
* Opening of additional sales offices in Eastern Europe: Moscow (RU), Sofia (BG) and Lvov (UA)

2004
* Purchase of the PVC pipe business from Drossbach in Germany and acquisition of Propipe in Finland

2005
* Acquisition of 100% shares in Pipelife's joint venture with the Hungarian Pannonplast Group in Hungary and Romania; founding of Pipelife Bulgaria

2007
* Acquisition of Quality Plastics in Ireland; Start-up of production in Russia

ee also

* Reinforced Thermoplastic Pipe
* Plastic Pressure Pipe Systems
* Pipeline transport

External links

*en icon [http://www.pipelife.com/ Pipelife International homepage]
*en icon [http://www.pipelife.com/web/nl_new/t2w_nl.nsf/webTop/3EE18933CE66DE7BC12571A8002510FA Pipelife NL]
*en icon [http://www.soluforce.net/ Soluforce]
*en icon [http://www.eco-pipelife.com/ Eco Pipelife]