The historic Gomà-Camps paper mill, born 260 years ago in the Tarragona town of La Riba, has sold its tissue paper consumption division to the Portuguese group The Navigator.
The operation has been closed for 85 million euros, according to a statement from the multinational to the Portuguese stock market regulator.
The agreement contemplates the transfer of two companies: Gomà Camps Consumer, based in Ejea de los Caballeros, in Zaragoza, which in turn controls a subsidiary in the municipality of Castres, in France.
Both companies billed 115.6 million euros in 2022, according to data provided yesterday by The Navigator. Regarding employment, it is concentrated in the Aragonese plant. Around 150 people work there, while in the French subsidiary only one person works as a commercial agent, sources from Gomà-Camps detail this newspaper.
The Catalan family company thus opens a new stage in which it will only maintain the manufacture of tissue paper reels for clients of the professional channel, a less relevant division within the group that sells to companies in the hospitality sector and institutions. According to company sources, this division had a turnover of around 82 million euros last year, taking into account that the group's total income stood at 198 million.
This division dedicated to the professional channel concentrates its activity in the historic La Riba plant, which has not been affected by the operation closed with The Navigator. "From the management and the family we are very satisfied with the operation, which will reinforce our leadership position in the professional market and in the sale of coils at an international level. We thank the entire Consumer team for the teamwork carried out during all these years of collaboration”, Laia Gomà-Camps, general director of the group, who shares the leadership of the business with Maties Gomà-Camps, stated yesterday in a Linkedin publication. who exercises the functions of CEO.
With the acquisition, The Navigator strengthens its position in the market for the production of tissue paper, used to make handkerchiefs, napkins or kitchen towels. According to a statement, the group based in Setúbal (near Lisbon) will become the second largest manufacturer in the Iberian Peninsula by reaching an annual capacity of 165,000 tons. Yesterday, the market received the operation with a rise in the share of 1.93%. According to the latest available results, The Navigator had a turnover of 1,590 million euros in 2021, being the third largest exporter in Portugal
