Rehau picks up 51% stake in Chennai-based Red Star Polymers Pvt Ltd

CHENNAI: The €4.7 billion Germany-based Rehau Group, a global leader in polymer product solutions for emerging markets has acquired majority stake in the Chennai-based Red Star Polymers Pvt Ltd, through the foreign direct investment (FDI) from the Switzerland entity Rehau Verwaltungszentrale AG Red Star Polymers.

As a leading producer of PVC edgeband tapes, it has a manufacturing facility in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, and a strong presence in South India.

S Karthikeyan, director, Red Star Polymers, a veteran with over 40 years in the furniture industry, has rapidly grown Red Star as a top-selling brand in the Edgeband sector in just seven years. Red Star has a customer base of over 3,000, including furniture OEMs, dealers, and carpenters.

Rehau is well-positioned to capitalise on the growing demand for affordable, high-quality Edgebands in tier II and tier III cities. Red Star Polymers currently employs 200 people, further boosting the company’s capacity to meet the future market demand. Rehau plans to acquire the remaining 49 per cent of Red Star Polymers in the next three years, further solidifying its market presence.

Rehau has made significant investments in India, establishing the single largest manufacturing facility for UPVC Edgebands at Vadodara, Gujarat in the country and becoming the market leader with over 45 per cent share in the organised OEM market. Employing over 500 people in India, Rehau Polymers achieved sales revenue of about Rs 400 crore in 2023.

Rafael Daum, CEO, Asia Pacific, Rehau, said, “This acquisition is a crucial step in Rehau’s global expansion strategy. While Red Star has been serving south, our goal is to leverage its capabilities to cater to the growing mid-market in India.”