Chinese metal manufacturer buys Dutch firm

JINAN -- China's biggest metal abrasives maker, Shandong Kaitai Group, completed its takeover of Dutch company Airblast B.V on Friday.

In a bid to gain technological know-how and access to global distribution networks, privately-owned Shandong Kaitai, which is based in Zouping of East China's Shandong province, agreed to pay $14.05 million for the firm in October.

Airblast is a Dutch surface treatment equipment producer.

The deal gives Shandong Kaitai access to Airblast's advanced technology in producing self-contained blastrooms. It also enables it to make use of the Dutch manufacturer's distribution networks in the Middle East, South America, the Far East and East Europe, said Zhang Laibin, chairman of Shandong Kaitai.

Airblast, founded in 1974, has a global sales network and a handful of subsidiaries in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Singapore and India. It holds about 20 percent share of the global surface preparation market.

Shandong Kaitai was established in 2001. With 1.06 billion yuan ($169.7 million) of sales revenue in 2011, it is a top-four player in the metallic abrasives industry across the globe.