Borit – exit in 2020
The merger with Weifu ensures that Borit can continue to play in the highest league now that larger industrial players are increasingly positioning themselves in the hydrogen economy. We are confident that Borit, alongside Weifu's Danish subsidiary IRD, will continue to develop sustainably and will be a cornerstone of Weifu's fuel cell business. This will also maximise Borit's contribution to a greener future.
Dirk De Boever, Head of Investments at Finindus and Chairman of the Board at Borit
Borit produces and commercialises metal bipolar plates for fuel cells that generate electricity from hydrogen. Borit has its headquarters and production unit in Geel. The company won the ‘Factory of the Future Award 2018’ from Agoria in recognition of its far-reaching investments in digitisation, smart processes and products and production at a global level.
Borit was founded in 2010 by OCAS, Finindus and Borit Leichtbau-Technik GmbH to industrially scale up and commercially deploy a unique hydroforming technology for the production of ultra-thin metal sheets.
In order to maintain its leading position in this global market and achieve further growth, Borit faced important challenges: continued scaling up, including the establishment of a production site in China and further expansion of its position in the value chain. This required targeted partnerships and significant investments.
To support these growth ambitions, the search for a strong, strategic and industrial partner was launched in 2019. Of the candidate partners initially contacted, most of the interest ultimately came from Asian parties.
Eventually, only one party was retained that could demonstrate a strong complementary and strategic fit with Borit: Weifu High Technology Group. The company is listed on the stock exchange and 14% owned by the German multinational Robert Bosch GmbH, its second largest shareholder.
Partners in ambition at Borit
At the end of 2014, after Borit had decided to fully focus on components for fuel cells and electrolysers, PMV joined the capital to help realise the industrial investment programme together with Finindus. Various financing rounds followed, resulting in a further expansion of the product range, technological expertise, production capacity and Flemish employment.
Weifu High Technology Group wants to continue to serve the European and North American markets from the site in Geel after the acquisition. Weifu will serve the Chinese market from a new Chinese production unit. Weifu has also indicated that it intends to further develop the Geel site as a technology centre.
Investment team
