Refratechnik Group takes over Burton
The Refratechnik Group in Ismaning, near Munich, one of the leading producers of ceramic refractory products, has acquired the facilities of Burton GmbH + Co. KG in Melle, Germany, and will continue business operations under the name Refratechnik Ceramics GmbH with effect from 22 August 2013. The jobs of the employees at the Melle/Buer site will be saved. The globally established representative offices will also strengthen the sales network.
As a result of this strategic takeover, Refratechnik Ceramics will become one of the market leaders and global suppliers of refractory products for industrial kilns and furnaces in the ceramics industry. In this field, the product range covers wall, roof and car systems as well as furniture for tunnel kilns, in which products such as refractory ceramics, roofing tiles, sanitaryware, and other ceramic products are fired. Burton Kiln Furniture in Hungary, which was also taken over by Refra-technik Ceramics, primarily produces cast refractory materials. Consequently, Refratechnik Ceramics is supplier of a complete range of ceramic systems for kilns and furnaces. In addition, high-performance products are manufactured and sold for applications in waste incineration plants, coal-fired power plants, primary aluminium industry, non-ferrous metallurgy and the glass and steel industries.
While the field of industrial furnaces for the ceramics industry represents an expansion of Refra-technik’s activities, Burton’s “Industrial” customer base and product portfolio is a contribution to Refratechnik’s consistent expansion of existing business operations, in particular in the fields of primary aluminium and waste incineration. In these areas, Refratechnik is now a full-service supplier offering complex refractory systems from a single source.
The Refratechnik Group, a family business founded in 1950, employs more than 1200 people and is regarded as one of the most dynamic enterprises in Germany’s SME sector.
With the acquisition of Burton, the Refratechnik Group now has 18 sites in four continents. Nine of these are state-of-the-art production facilities for burnt, shaped, and unshaped refractory products. Two other sites are in the raw materials business.
