Dunlop Protective Footwear (Hevea)
BusinessHevea is a leading player in the market for protective footwear. The company has two strong brands, Dunlop and Viking. Dunlop is the leading brand in Europe for work and safety boots for professional and semi-professional applications. Viking is a prominent consumer brand for watertight footwear in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Hevea is a pan-European company with its head office in Raalte and production locations in Raalte and Leira (Portugal). In addition, the company operates various sales offices in Europe and employs around 290 people in total.
Development
GEM Benelux acquired Hevea from its parent company Vredestein in October 2004 and supported management’s plans to increase earnings by both lowering the cost base and increasing sales through new marketing initiatives for e.g. the Dunlop brand. Given the different nature of the Viking and Dunlop activities, it was decided to divest the Viking business, in order to be able to fully focus on Dunlop Protective Footwear, and its international expansion. As a result, early 2007 the Viking division was sold to Bertel O. Steen AS. In 2006 and 2007 the capacity in the Dunlop factory was expanded with more than 50% to accommodate the strong growth. Today, the company is active on a global scale, with a growing presence in the United States and Canada.
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