Rhi Magnesita defies market pressure with successful takeovers!

Rhi Magnesita defies market pressure with successful takeovers!

Laimgrubengasse 10, 1060 Wien, Österreich - rhi Magnesita, the global market leader in the field of fire festival products, released its annual results for 2024 on February 27, 2025. Despite the challenging market conditions that brought a declining sales volume of 1 % and a price drop of 6 %, the company can refer to stabilized operational performance. The adjusted EBITA remained almost constant at 407 million euros, which means an improvement in the EBITA margin to 11.7 %. The strong cash flow contributed to 1.251 billion euros to reduce net debt, as Rhi Magnesita announced in a press release.

A central point in the strategy of the company is the implementation of strategic acquisitions, which made a significant contribution to overall performance in 2024. The acquisition of the US Resco Group worth 391 million euros was successfully completed, which is a significant step to strengthen presence in North America. This takeover has been the largest since Rhi and Magnesita in 2017 and is intended to meet the customer's wish for local production. The company also plans to further integrate the acquisitions completed in 2023 in order to remain profitable in the long term. Stefan Borgas, CEO of Rhi Magnesita, confidently commented on the future development of the company and the implementation of the investments that will be planned in the coming years.

Acquisition of Seven Refractories

In addition, RHI Magnesita has announced the takeover of Seven Refractories, which represents a further reinforcement of the product portfolio. Seven Refractories is a provider of fire-fighting blends with a turnover of 105 million euros and a profit before tax of 11.4 million euros in 2022. The acquisition will enable RHI Magnesita to offer a broader range of non-based firefight mixtures and to expand the already strong market position, as can be seen in the report of Refractories-worldforum.com. Stefan Borgas described the transaction as significant progress in the area of ​​non-based firefight mixtures, which represent a valuable addition to the existing product range.

After completing the acquisition, the management team of Seven Refractories, including CEO Erik ZobeC, will be integrated into the RHI Magnesita Group. This merger promises attractive synergies that are to be created by improved sales and increased recycling use. The takeover is expected to be completed for the second half of 2023, depending on the approval by the competition authorities.