Australia / New Zealand – After a strategic review Fletcher Building announced it intends to sell Formica and its steel roofing tiles businesses within the Roof Tile Group, and focus on its operations in Australia and New Zealand.

Formica and Roof Tile Group are part of Fletcher’s International division (along with Laminex), with operations in North America, Europe and Asia. Laminex will remain part of the group at least for the time being.

The funds raised with these disinvestments will be used to strengthen its balance sheet and improve the group’s financial situation. Fletcher fired its former chief executive last year in the face of losses at its Building + Interiors unit which is part of the Construction division and in February this year chairman Ralph Norris said he would step down to take responsibility for the company’s poor performance. Fletcher Building announced a capital increase on 17 April in order to provide the funds needed to overcome this situation.

Formica Group is a leading provider of branded, designed surfacing solutions for commercial and residential customers worldwide consisting of Formica Canada, Inc., Formica Corporation, Formica de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Formica IKI Oy, Formica Limited, Formica S.A., Formica S.A.S., Formica Taiwan Corporation, Formica (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Formica (Asia) Ltd., and Homapal GmbH, among others property of Fletcher Building.