The Kingspan Group has made its first move into central and eastern Europe, buying a Czech building material manufacturer for a cash consideration £650,000, while also assuming debt of £5.9 million. It is purchasing Sunip, which makes composite panels and is based in Hradec Karlove; as part of its move into the region, it is also opening subsidiaries in Poland and Hungary.

Kingspan's move into the Czech Republic, first revealed recently in The Irish Times, involves purchasing a company with annual sales of £6.5 million, on which it made an operating loss of £280,000. Net liabilities at the end of last year stood at £2.25 million. Kingspan intends to invest £2 million to double capacity from the current one million square metres and achieve the same level of efficiency as other Kingspan panel plants.