Canadian door manufacturer Masonite International Corporation, the world's largest door maker, has acquired the Ashkelon security door factory of Seventech Ltd. for $5.3 million. Masonite will rename the facility Open Gallery Safe Ltd., which will manufacture finished steel doors for the Israeli market and unfinished steel doors for export. Sales of the new plant are expected to exceed $3 million a year.
Masonite already owns an Israeli company, Etz Carmiel Enterprises Ltd. and its subsidiary Open Gallery Ltd.. Masonite recently invested to upgrade Etz Carmiel's factory to produce decorated and clear entrance and interior doors, and in opening a chain of display rooms of Open Galley.
Masonite said that Etz Carmiel Enterprises is one of the company's flagships.
The new factory will employ 42 people. It will manufacture customized doors for domestic customers, and export unfinished doors to Masonite factories in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania.
Etz Carmiel and Open Gallery CEO Yuval Kadar said that Open Gallery Safe's doors had advanced locking mechanisms made by Mul-T-Lock and certified by the Standards Institution of Israel. "In addition to developing the domestic ornamental security doors market, we already have $3 million in export orders for unfinished steel doors," he said.
Masonite has 79 plants in 18 countries, including six in the US and France which specialize in the manufacture of steel doors.
Masonite Israel has a 35% share of the Israeli door market.
In June, Masonite successfully completed its financial restructuring and emerged from protection under both Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code and Canada's Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, only 85 days following its initial filings in March, 2009.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 5, 2009
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