Blanchon Group announces the acquisition of Rigo Verffabriek and Rigo Verfcentrum, a Dutch family-owned business (“the Company”, “the Group” or “RIGO”), specialising in the design and manufacturing of finishing products for wood and paints for heritage buildings, dedicated to professional customers.
This acquisition is part of the Blanchon Group strategy to accelerate its international growth and become a European leader in protection, maintenance, renovation and decoration of indoor and outdoor wood surfaces and vinyl flooring. With very strong product brands, including Skylt, Step, Royl, Toplin and Skyn combined with significant sales growth over the last decade, RIGO has become the market leader in the wooden floor segment in the Netherlands. The Company operates from Ijmuiden, Netherlands and this site will be added to the well-established European subsidiaries of Blanchon, to accelerate the group )international business growth.
Leveraging on the complementary combination of the Blanchon and RIGO product lines and strong brands awareness, as well as on their respective client portfolios, this acquisition allows Blanchon Group to become the wooden floor market leader in The Netherlands for professionals. Further to the acquisition of Ciranova in June 2021, the Blanchon Group is fully established as the market leader in the Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg area, representing the largest region, next to France.
RIGO’s previous owners and top management will remain fully involved in the company and takes over the overall responsibility for the BeNeLux region, and have invested into the Blanchon group alongside with current shareholders.
Guillaume Clément, President and CEO of the Blanchon Group, said: “We are very pleased to welcome the talented RIGO team to Blanchon Group. The acquisition of RIGO is a perfect match. RIGO has family roots like Blanchon and a deep entrepreneurial spirit forged by three generations since 1938. RIGO’s product quality and brand reputation, combined with its strong expertise in flooring and furniture, are key success factors. Furthermore, RIGO has invested substantially in developing a sustainable product offering, which includes the iconic Toplin product range. We are now in a position to offer the largest wood care product offering, both for indoor and outdoor applications, under three complementary and highly recognised brands: RIGO, Blanchon and Ciranova. All products will be locally available in the Netherlands with the ambition to fully support our Dutch professional customers’ business growth.”
Toon Van Westerhoven, Co-owner of RIGO, said: “We are very pleased to join Blanchon Group as we share the same DNA and values. It is for this reason that myself and my brother, Machiel Van Westerhoven, decided to sell our shares to Blanchon. We have succeeded in building a strong brand in the Netherlands to date and it is now time to build a stronger company. By joining Blanchon Group, we can benefit from the combined knowledge, techniques and assets.”
Michael Van Westerhoven, Co-Owner of RIGO, added: “The acquisition will allow RIGO to expand into new market segments and countries while leveraging the Blanchon Group organisation and indeed, it will further strengthen RIGO’s position in the Benelux region. This is a great journey to embark on and a promising new chapter for our company.”
