Plants: Asheville, NC; Soultz, France; Old Hickory, TN; Asturias, Spain

Processes: Sontara, Spunlace

In July 2021, Jacob Holm & Sons AG entered into a definitive agreement to be sold to Glatfelter Corporation, a leading producer of airlaid and wetlaid nonwovens, for approximately $308 million including the extinguishment of debt. The deal, which is subject to post-closing adjustments, includes the company’s four manufacturing sites and six sales offices located in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

“We are excited about the prospects and possibilities this combination presents for the company and look forward to taking the next step of this new journey,” says Martin Mikkelsen, CEO. “We are pleased to have identified a home for the business with shared values, the proven capability to grow businesses and a clear view to supporting the next growth phase prepared by the Jacob Holm management team.”

Looking back to 2020, sales at Jacob Holm reached $400 million, a year that was defined by global increases in demand due to Covid and increased focus on decontamination and need for localized supply.

As it prepares for its sale, Jacob Holm continues its global expansion plan, which was announced last year in response to this surge in demand. The program, which has been dubbed “Project Boost,” was approved by the board of directors in May 2020 and is expected to be complete by the second half of this year, adding about 500 million square meters to Jacob Holm’s global capacity, impacting all of its global manufacturing sites and adding nearly 60 new full-time positions.

“We are halfway through this investment project,” says Mikkelsen. “We have already seen some good results and validation for upcoming investments.”

In addition to adding to Jacob Holm’s global capacity, the program will allow the company to increase its usage of renewable raw materials. The upgraded production methodology will reduce waste and improve production efficiency and ultimately lower the carbon footprint of the Jacob Holm and Sontara product portfolios.

“We have really doubled down on our sustainability efforts in 2020 and 2021,” Mikkelsen says. “I see it as our obligation to provide sustainable products with improved performance while remaining competitive.”

As part of the Jacob Holm commitment to sustainability, Jacob Holm delivered its inaugural sustainability report in Q1 detailing progress made related to environmental and social governance. Jacob Holm is also proud to report its superior rating by Sustainalytics and its membership as a participant of the UN Global Compact.

On the product side, in April, Jacob Holm added Sontara EC Green to its Sontara Professional portfolio. Sontara EC Green is a unique, new high performance 100% cellulosic substrate product, made from proprietary Sontara technology.

This ultra-pure production process creates a 100% bio-based product without any binders, chemical additives or adhesives. Sontara EC Green is patent-protected and produced from renewable sources, making it an excellent alternative to non-biodegradable substrates. Food contact safe, these wipes come in a convenient dispenser box with sealed packs to prevent contamination. With this product, you can have the critical cleaning power you need while being environmentally responsible.

Along with new sustainable packaging made from recycled materials and a new folded wipes format, Jacob Holm is adding this sustainable option to its Sontara EC product range. This new addition is one more step forward into Jacob Holm’s commitment to sustainability and continuous innovation.

In June, Jacob Holm announced that its SoftFlush products passed the latest International Water Services Flushability Group (IWSFG) specifications. These specifications were created by the IWSFG with public input to reduce problems to homes, wastewater treatment facilities, utility workers and our environment caused by indiscriminately flushing consumer products.

According to IWSFG, “Products that meet the IWSFG flushability specifications are unlikely to cause harm to wastewater conveyance systems or treatment plants.” The IWSFG publicly available specification (PAS) documents were first published in 2018, with updates made in November 2020.

“We are very proud of what we achieved in dispersibility with fully sustainable materials, even though the bar was already set high.” Mikkelsen says.

SoftFlush is also proven to be compliant with the UK Fine to Flush standard and significantly exceeds the requirements of the fourth edition of the Guidelines for Assessing the Flushability of Disposable Nonwoven Products (GD4) set forth by INDA Association of the Nonwovens Fabric Industry.

Looking ahead, Mikkelsen says he believes in the long-term strength of the global wipes market. “The underlying fundamentals of the wipes market are healthy. After a period of extraordinary demand, you may have a quarter of a correction and then return to long term growth,” he says. “This is okay if you are in the right markets and have the right customers. There are always ups and downs with demand as new capacity comes on stream but we take the long-term view that the market will absorb new capacity. We are committed to supporting our customers’ growth with the necessary investments to expand spunlace capacity.”

Plants: Asheville, NC; Soultz, France; Old Hickory, TN; Asturias, Spain
Processes: Sontara, Spunlace

The latest news from Jacob Holm is the start of an ambitious, global expansion plan that will add 500 million square meters of new capacity to its global output. The program, which has been dubbed “Project Boost,” was approved by the Board of Directors in May 2020 and is expected to be complete by the second quarter of 2022.

“We had some expansion already in the budget for 2020 that we had not yet announced and then we decided to expand the scope significantly,” says CEO Martin Mikkelsen. “Once we had refined the scope and rolled out the numbers it accumulated to that large figure of 500 million square meters, which we felt was well-matched to the increasing market demand for spunlace fabrics.”

The investment program is significant in scope, affecting all production lines at the company’s four global nonwoven production sites. The investment is expected to lead to the creation of at least 57 new full-time positions across the group’s global manufacturing footprint while adding significantly to the size and scope of its output.

“Project Boost is our response to the needs of our partners across the globe for increasing capacity, providing more sustainable substrate choices and continuing to uphold our position as an innovation leader in nonwovens,” says Mikkelsen.

True to Jacob Holm’s commitment to sustainability, the investment will allow the lines to increase their usage of renewable raw materials. Additionally, the upgraded production methodology will reduce waste and improve production efficiency and ultimately lower the carbon footprint of the entire Jacob Holm and Sontara product portfolios.

According to Mikkelsen, Jacob Holm’s sustainability strategy is built from the understanding that true sustainability in nonwovens requires a team approach up and down stream, extending even to consumer education. While Jacob Holm is proud of their ability to run natural and plant-based fibers, there is also an awareness that certain applications will always require the performance that is currently only offered by synthetic materials. “There is a notion that you cannot exit plastics completely but you absolutely can have a more conscientious approach, which is why we are working on greater transparency through sustainability projects like our Jacob Holm eCO2-quation app.”

The decision to significantly expand the company’s global capacity was made as Jacob Holm was in the midst of an aggressive response to the Coronavirus pandemic. In May, the company announced that its efforts to produce much-needed personal protective equipment including face masks and isolations gowns was contributing to a 65% increase in Sontara production. Among these efforts was a partnership with the global sports performance brand Under Armour.

“We very quickly scaled up on production capacity and also fast tracked some debottlenecking projects and other investments we had in the pipeline because we could see our customers were going to need more support from us,” Mikkelsen says.

Jacob Holm also ramped up the certification process, such as EN13795 in Europe, as new regulations surfaced, an effort only possible because of Sontara’s more than 40 years of experience in the medical market.

“The demand remains pretty solid, and we are further increasing capacity to meet it. We also qualified our plant in Asturias, which had not been a major medical producer previously but we were able to utilize our technical expertise from other sites to fast track that process so now we have solid medical grade capabilities in both Europe and North America.”

“This situation is unprecedented,” says CEO Martin Mikkelsen. “However, for Jacob Holm as a company, the only way forward is to lean in to what we know and use the full force of our experience to help contain the spread of Covid-19 and make a positive impact on the well-being of our communities.”

Concurrently, Sontara has increased PPE production partnerships across the U.S. and Europe and has donated the equivalent material of well over a million masks through Spain and France. In addition, they have made donations of disinfectant wipes and meals to emergency personnel within the local communities of their production sites.

Looking back to 2019, Mikkelsen describes it as a basically flat year from a revenue perspective compared to 2018. However, highlights of the year included the company’s reorganization into three business units that roll up into two business areas – Sontara and Jacob Holm. The Sontara area includes the Sontara Professional and Health & Skin Care groups while the Jacob Holm umbrella includes Personal Care in the hygiene and consumer wipes segments.

Plants: Asheville, NC; Soultz, France; Old Hickory, TN; Asturias, Spain
Processes: Sontara, Spunlace

Jacob Holm celebrates its 225th year in business this year with continued sales growth after five years of significant investments in a proprietary production line for dispersible wipes in the U.S., the acquisition of the Sontara business from DuPont and added production capabilities in Spain. These investments continue to help Jacob Holm expand its position both within the wipes market and beyond. Jacob Holm has now set its focus on addressing new markets where performance is critical and where they can offer additional value.

“With 225 years of legacy, we aim to foster a youthful and daring spirit to continue innovating and leading the way in spunlace technology,” says CEO Martin Mikkelsen. “We renew our commitment this year to our growth partners, with increased focus on creating solutions tailored to their needs, and to our world as we explore new ways to sustain our business and our planet.”

With facilities in the U.S., France and Spain, Jacob Holm boasts one of the largest breadths of proprietary technology in nonwovens manufacturing. This allows them to provide solutions for a wide variety of applications and end markets. For example, their unique, patented dispersible wipes products exceed dispersibility regulations while out-performing alternative fabrics in wet and dry strength and softness. These products are 100% biodegradable and are produced to meet the changing demands of end consumers and exceed INDA/EDANA industry standards. Jacob Holm also offers customized embossing patterns to further meet customers’ needs. These advancements have largely been possible thanks to the company’s second North Carolina line, which uses one-of-a-kind proprietary technology. The line, added in 2015, has broadened the product range into several new categories by testing the limits of what is possible with nonwovens.

Jacob Holm has leveraged existing Sontara technology by growing their global market reach. The proprietary Sontara production method creates a fabric that is ultra-pure, binder free chemicals and adhesives, with superior dimensional stability and exceptional absorption.

Jacob Holm discovered that these properties made Sontara substrates a natural fit for the beauty care market, where it has continued to optimize the fabric for high-demand features, such as wet transparency and colored substrates. Increased demand for these products has led Jacob Holm to establish a Korean sales office.

After working closely with DuPont to produce Kevlar and Nomex fabrics for over 30 years, Jacob Holm officially launched its own aramids business in 2018. This business has allowed the company to expand into a range of high performance segments that are tailor-made for niche and industrial applications. Proprietary Sontara  technology ensures that all products are soft, drapeable, binder and resin free and offer excellent dimensional stability. Sontara Aramids are used for fabric liners or apparel interfacings for Turnout Gear, fire blocking materials, protection of batteries, transformers or high speed equipment, high temperature filtration and more.

Meanwhile, in hygiene, Jacob Holm has developed a presence across various categories, where they are the market leader in producing lightweight fabrics. Their focus is now on developing sustainable hygiene components without compromising on performance. The incorporation of spunlace materials into items like baby diapers and fem hy items has allowed manufacturers to create more sustainable products, a key demand of end users across age demographics.

Plants: Asheville, NC; Soultz, France; Old Hickory, TN; Asturias, Spain
Processes: Sontara, Spunlace

Jacob Holm continues to reap the benefits of the past few years of investments, which include the completion of a large-scale production line in Candler, NC, the acquisition of the Sontara assets from DuPont and the subsequent multi-million dollar investment programs on all production sites. These investments have helped expand Jacob Holm’s range in markets both within and beyond wipes.

“Sontara offers an unparalleled breadth of technology and also allowed us to establish a presence on the ground in Asia with a local network in sales, technology and distribution support,” says CEO Martin Mikkelsen.

The acquisition of Sontara seems to have fortified the Jacob Holm spirit of innovation. In 2018, Jacob Holm commercialized several new product platforms. This growth shows no sign of stopping in 2019 the company’s product development team  has developed an interesting and diverse pipeline of products expected to launch next year in markets such as automotive, advanced skin care and high performance materials, according to the company.

Jacob Holm’s emphasis on innovation and continuous improvement has earned it the reputation for having a young, entrepreneurial spirit. This makes the company very attractive to talented industry partners, both as customers and employees. In the last four years, the number of Jacob Holm employees has increased nearly 450%.

In addition to giving Jacob Holm access to new technology, the acquisition of Sontara provided the company with manufacturing assets in Old Hickory, TN, and Asturias, Spain. In January, Jacob Holm announced it had invested more than €2 million in its Asturias, Spain, production facility. This new technology has expanded the number of products made at the site, allowing Jacob Holm to pursue increasingly broad technological growth by providing advanced capabilities to tailor the performance of its products with more accuracy within a broader potential specification set. The advancement provides customers with access to a significantly expanded range of customization options and new fabric properties for performance critical applications, Mikkelsen says.

The Sontara business significantly broadened Jacob Holm’s market presence, providing it with new segments in critical cleaning and other high performance wipes applications. It also served to increase the Jacob Holm presence in existing markets, like advanced skin care. Through partnerships with leading brand houses, Jacob Holm’s presence in the advanced skin care market continues to grow in Asia and beyond.

Meanwhile, in North Carolina, Jacob Holm’s new line in Candler, NC, is based on proprietary technology that allows the company to broaden its product range into new categories. One of these areas is dispersible wipes, where Jacob Holm is setting new benchmarks for dispersibility and softness, as evidenced by a marked consumer preference.

“We are happy with our North Carolina investment. It pushes the boundaries of what is possible and we are pleased with the opportunities it gives for differentiation as well as execution beyond the limits of the GD4 (flushability standards) with dispersibility,” Mikkelsen says. “We take wastewater issues very seriously when it comes to dispersibility. We aim to go above and beyond any industry standards.”

Based on one-of-a-kind technology, Jacob Holm’s dispersible products have done well with customers. “It’s very different from competing products so retailers and converters can differentiate. There is softer hand feel and very nice lotion stability in the packaging. Our innovation team continues to upgrade the offering of products, and we are excited to launch new and improved grades in the coming period. We continue to be impressed with the capabilities of our technology, and we have not even seen the best of it yet.”

While wipes continue to be an important market for Jacob Holm, the company continues to work diligently to expand its market position outside of wipes in healthcare and hygiene as well as in durable and technical applications including automotive, filtration and construction. As it pursues these markets, Jacob Holm has no intention to lessen its focus on wipes.

“The wipes market has good underlying fundamental growth prospects driven by strong macro trends,” Mikkelsen says. “We see a lot of specialization in a lot of premium products. Baby care is an excellent fit for our asset configurations and continues to be an important component of our growth. We continue to invest in process optimization to remain strong in the premium side of this business.”

Looking forward, the company will continue to focus on sustainability. While in part a response to growing global concerns and regulations, it is also a trend inherent in the company’s ethos. As a company founded in Northern Europe, respect for and protection of its natural surroundings has always been a part of Jacob Holm. Combined with the pioneering spirit that keeps Jacob Holm continuously learning and adapting to the needs of the marketplace, Jacob Holm will continue to add value to its partnerships, where Magic Meets Fabric.

Plants: Asheville, NC; Soultz, France; Old Hickory, TN; Asturias, Spain
Processes: Sontara, hydroentanglement/spunlace, composites
Brands: Sontara Softesse, JetSpun, Softlite, SoftFlush, a.o.
Major markets: Personal care, home care, hygiene, medical, specialty, technical, industrial

After spending the last few years in expansion mode—adding a large, new line in Candler, NC, and acquiring the Sontara business from DuPont—Jacob Holm is now focusing on unifying its businesses, developing a single presence and communication message to its customers. Central to this strategy is a new tagline, “Magic Meets Fabric,” which replaces “Art of Nonwovens,” and represents the essence and soul of  what the company is about, according to CEO Martin Mikkelsen. “There is something mystical about Jacob Holm and we wanted to try to synthesize this,” he adds. “We have some really strong brands and we will continue to invest in them.”

One area where this investment continues to pay off is in the flushable wipes segment, where the company’s new U.S. line continues to reach new frontiers, allowing Jacob Holm to launch SoftFlush Fast, which is creating a new standard in flushability with products that break up like toilet paper but are strong like consumer wipes.

While flushability is considered a strong growth area for Jacob Holm, the company has a major presence in most wipes categories across the consumer and industrial markets, particularly in critical applications where the value or performance of the product exceeds price considerations.

In 2016, Jacob Holm expanded its key market segments from five to six with the addition of High Performance, which included durable or technical applications for its spunlace materials. Holm’s existing market areas include consumer, wipes, beauty, critical cleaning, healthcare and hygiene.

While the addition of a new segment shows how Jacob Holm is looking to new markets like automotives, filtration and construction for its spunlace output, wipes continues to be its most important market, representing about 80% of sales.

“We have no intention to give up our position in wipes,” Mikkelsen explains. “In fact, we will continue to maintain it with continuous innovation.”

Baby wipes continues to represent the largest market with the largest base, and it is also growing the most quickly. However, beauty care, where Holm offers a complete range of facial wipes, body care products and masks—is growing in importance.

With manufacturing facilities in France, Germany, Spain and Tennessee, as well as the North Carolina site, Jacob Holm is well positioned to serve markets globally and high growth geographies and emerging markets are high on the company’s radar, even as new spunlace capacity comes onstream around the globe.

“The addition of spunlace capacity around the globe is a testament of the superiority that spunlace offers in terms of its ability to combine fiber blends, gsm’s, finishes and more while still being able to compete with other technologies when it comes to price,” Mikkelsen says, adding that there are some new-to-the-world innovation areas where spunlace has never been used on the horizon.

“Both the team and the company is ready for the next growth stage,” he adds. “We are ready to explore our options and see what is a good fit,” he says.

Whether this growth comes through acquisition or capital investment remains to be seen. “There is a time and place for both investment and acquisition when it comes to global expansion, “ Mikkelsen says. “The opportunity to disrupt markets with new technologies are typically best achieved with organic growth; however, geographical segment expansion is where we see the best opportunities. A combination of these two is usually the best way.”

As it moves forward, Jacob Holm will continue to move in the same prudent manner it did when investing in North America and developing new technologies, making sure its decisions are the right ones for the both the company and the market it serves.

“It took a long time to get to the Softflush technology but I think the consumer will agree that it was worth the wait,” Mikkelsen says.

Plants: Asheville, NC; Soultz, France; Old Hickory, TN; Asturias, Spain
Processes: Sontara, Hydroentanglement/spunlace, composites
Brands: Sontara, Softesse, JetSpun, Softlite, SoftFlush, a.o.
Major markets: Personal care, home care, hygiene, medical, specialty, technical, industrial

With its new U.S. investment complete, Jacob Holm Industries is continuing to pursue its global growth strategy within all of its five main segments—hygiene, beauty, healthcare, consumer and industrial. In 2015, sales continued to increase, reaching $350 million on the heels of two major investment initiatives—the acquisition of the Sontara technology assets from DuPont and the completion of its latest U.S. production line in the second quarter of 2015.

“Our global strategy targets five core segments,” says CEO Martin Mikkelsen. “Within these we’re pleased to note growth in all of our geographical markets—the Asia-Pacific, North America, South America and Europe.”

Within North America, Jacob Holm is particularly focused on the flushable wipes market. Its latest investment, a $65 million line, features proprietary technology that has resulted in the launch of Softflush, a unique nonwoven substrate combining the highest wet strength with the fastest dispersibility commercially available. This product is quickly finding acceptance in moist toilet tissue, personal care, adult incontinence, medical and bathroom cleaning wipes markets. In addition to the dispersibility benefit, the product offers a softer feel as recognized by consumers.

Beyond flushable wipes, Jacob Holm is also developing products from the new line for certain healthcare applications and industrial wipes. Mikkelsen says new product introductions targeting industrial wipes have already been launched in 2016.

“Progress on diversifying the offering from our proprietary technology line has opened up spaces for innovation beyond flushable wipes but they still remain the main category and focus of development,” he adds. “Overall, we aim at proposing a more comprehensive offering to our main customers. We can deliver for example the widest technological portfolio to our customers using many types of fiber blends and technical product properties to tailor the product and exceed the end-user’s expectations. We can deliver anything from reinforced pulp-based wipes in the industrial category to ultrasoft flushable wet wipes.”

In fact, diversification within the wipes market is a major focus for Jacob Holm whose markets range from beauty to healthcare to industrial. “When we talk about wipes today, it is a much broader category than it was traditionally,” Mikkelsen says. “We are heavily invested in the wipes category. Our lines and our assets speak well to the needs of the wipes market and we remain committed to bringing more innovation and benefits to our wipes customers.”

Jacob Holm’s second U.S. line came onstream in spring 2015, nine years after its first line began operation. Several years in development, the new line features unique patented technology. Meanwhile, Jacob Holm’s existing asset base has benefited from developments on lighter weights and alternative raw materials.

“We are known for high quality product offerings across all of our segments and all of our regions,” he says. “And for that type of products there is always growth available.”

Currently, Jacob Holm has facilities only in North America and Europe, but that won’t stop growth in other geographies such as Asia.”

The high quality product offering was enhanced through the acquisition of the Sontara technology assets from DuPont in late 2014. In addition to expanding the company’s manufacturing footprint with sites in Tennessee and Spain, the Sontara acquisition provided Jacob Holm with access to key markets and customers in areas of specialty industrial wipes, medical apparel and beauty care. It added about $190 million to overall sales.

“Sontara has a product range that fits well into most of our five core segments and expands our global footprint. It has also given us great dedicated sales representatives in new regions, enabling unparalleled level of local service to our global accounts.”

So while Jacob Holm only has manufacturing sites in the U.S. and Europe, it is able to easily service customers well beyond them into other new regions. That’s not to say that investment in new places is off the table.

“We are looking actively at our next growth project,” Mikkelsen says. “Its too early to say where it will be. We always analyze first our customer’s needs and technology trends. We listen to our customers and the market and then invest with something new, something innovative addressing trends that are emerging. This is what we have done with every single line we have started up, and this is what we are looking to achieve with our next growth initiative as well. Our continued growth is testament to the success of this model.”

Plants: Asheville, NC; Soultz, France; Old Hickory, TN; Asturias, Spain
Processes: Sontara, Hydroentanglement/spunlace, composites
Brands: Sontara Softesse, JetSpun, Softlite, SoftFlush, a.o.
Major markets: Personal care, home care, hygiene, medical, specialty, technical, industrial

With a big, new U.S. line coming onstream and an acquisition in the spunlace market, Jacob Holm is one nonwovens producer poised for significant growth in the future. In 2014, the company’s pro forma full year sales, including the Sontara business, which was acquired from DuPont, early in the year, were reported at $400 million.

With a significant portion of its pre-Sontara capacity targeting the global wipes market, Jacob Holm has recently introduced new technology targeting the flushable wipes market, which is a new category for the company. According to CEO Martin Mikkelsen this technology, being marketed under the SoftFlush brand name, was six years in the making. In fact, several years into development, the company realized a completely new asset base would be needed to best serve this market, and the company committed to adding a second proprietary technology line at its North Carolina site.

“We had to completely rethink our technology approach after working on this application for a couple of years,” he says.

However, these efforts were well worth it. Softflush exhibits higher wet strength and faster dispersibility than other commercially available offerings and is finding strong acceptance in the moist toilet tissue, personal care, adult incontinence, medical and bathroom cleaning wipes markets.

“Better dispersibility with a softer feel is where we feel our proprietary technology has significant advantages versus existing substrates to meet dispersibility guidelines in consumer testing,” Mikkelsen says. “In the tests conducted, it exceeds the current standards.”

With custom-designed fiber blends from sustainable natural resources, SoftFlush is also biodegradable.

Mikkelsen says that the material has the potential to displace a portion of the large volume toilet tissue paper market, providing consumers with the opportunity to trade up for a certain performance attribute.

“Most of our customers have a presence in wipes and they are looking to grow in dispersible tissue,” he says. “They are looking for suppliers who can help them differentiate their offering to the premium segments.”

Representing a $60 million-plus investment, the line that makes SoftFlush came onstream in spring 2015, nine years after the first line began operation at the site, and features technology that is proprietary to Jacob Holm.

Meanwhile, Jacob Holm’s existing asset base continues to focus largely on the wipes market and it has benefitted from efforts to focus on lighter weights and alternative raw materials. While Holm continues to successfully diversify outside of the wipes market, it is wipes that is the company’s main business.

“Our existing asset base speaks well to wipes applications. We remain committed to wipes but we are selective in which specific categories we participate in,” Mikkelsen says.

Beyond wipes, Jacob Holm’s development team has developed certain products that add value in a number of applications like a lightweight range for hygiene applications.

“As these markets grow and change, we are committed to grow and change with them,” Mikkelsen says. “One of these areas is our lightweight range within hygiene. It has seen growth for us, but the product has also evolved to be very different than it was in the beginning.”

The acquisition of Sontara from DuPont, which was complete in third quarter 2014, provided Jacob Holm not only with access to new markets like medical and critical performance wipes, but also with new manufacturing assets in Old Hickory, TN and  Asturias, Spain. Its sales prior to the acquisition were about $190 million or 5% of DuPont Protection Technologies’ sales.

Mikkelsen says that the Sontara business is now benefiting from a new product development team put in place by Paul Marold, a former Ahlstrom executive, who now serves as COO for the Sontara Business Unit.  This business operates independently from Jacob Holm but there are certain synergies that exist between the two businesses.

“Sontara has a significant legacy presence in medical applications and we are looking to refresh this with a next generation offering,” Mikkelsen says. “Selected areas of this market benefit significantly from our combined product offering and we remain committed to grow our presence.”

The strong, science-based development work conducted by DuPont has earned Sontara a spot in a number of regulated industries like aerospace and automotive painting and provides Jacob Holm access to significant new markets.

“With Jacob Holm’s existing technology platform, our new Softflush product and the Sontara capabilities, our customers have the unique benefit of working with the only company spanning the full breadth of web forming technologies with a common denominator in hydroentanglement.”

Plants: Asheville, NC, U.S.; Soultz, France; Old Hickory, TN, U.S.; Asturias, Spain
Processes: Hydroentangling/spunlace
Brands: Lidro, Rough N Soft, TAU
Major Markets: Personal care, home care, hygiene, medical, packaging, specialty and technical industrial applications

The big news at Jacob Holm this year is the acquisition of the Sontara business from DuPont Protection Technologies, a deal that was announced in June and is expected to close during the third quarter. The integration of Sontara into Jacob Holm’s existing business not only increases the company’s spunlace output, but it also expands its manufacturing footprint with operations in Old Hickory, TN and Asturias, Spain.

“The combination of Jacob Holm and Sontara complements two strong players and creates a new industry innovation leader for spunlaced nonwoven fabrics. The broader range of technology know-how results in higher innovation capabilities in product development and offers promising business opportunities to the benefit of our customers and our employees. We very much look forward to working with our new colleagues and partners who will undoubtedly contribute to the successful development of our group,” says Martin Mikkelsen, CEO of the Jacob Holm Group.

DuPont developed Sontara more than 40 years ago and has marketed it in a range of medical and wipes businesses. According to DuPont’s annual report, sales last year were about $190 million or 5% of DuPont Protection Technologies’ sales in 2013.

Paul Marold, a former Ahlstrom executive, will serve as COO of the Sontara business once the sale closes.

Turning to Jacob Holm’s existing business, the company is underway with a large expansion at its Candler, NC site, which already houses one large spunlace line. The total investment for this new line will likely exceed $60 million by the time it is complete sometime in early 2015.

The site’s first line, which was added in 2006, has been operating at a sold-out status for several years and the company has relied on streamlining efficiencies as well as new product development to increase capacity and sales at the site.

For example, in the lightweight hygiene category, Jacob Holm has pushed the lowest basis weight limits that spunlace can supply. Such new development initiatives, including alternate specialty fiber processing, has allowed Jacob Holm to grow and develop without adding new assets, while targeting new market segments.

While it has diversified outside of wipes to some extent, still the majority of its overall capacity is sold into the premium wipes market while the balance is primarily sold into the hygiene market for diaper components and feminine hygiene applications. While efforts to diversify beyond wipes have been strong in recent years, Holm continues to develop new products in its core wipes business. These include 100% synthetic wipes with an aperture or smooth surface for disinfecting applications, a variety of premium lightweight wipes that range from 30-40 gsm using specialty fibers and a new range of 100% cellulosic/sustainable products.

Variety in raw materials has helped Jacob Holm in the global wipes market, which is still a growth market, albeit one with very pressurized margins, particularly in developed markets.

While premium and next generation wipes undoubtedly remain a priority, Jacob Holm has also expanded its other processing capabilities beyond lightweight hygiene applications, developing mid- to heavyweight specialty fabrics for industrial applications.

Plants: Asheville, NC, U.S., and Soultz, France
Processes: Hydroentangling/Spunlace
Brands: Lidro, Rough N Soft, TAU
Major Markets: Personal care, home care, hygiene, medical, packaging, specialty and technical industrial applications

Sales decreased at Jacob Holm Industries in 2012. The reduction reflects lower raw material costs, changes in product mix and varying exchange rates, according to president and COO, Steve Landon.

“Margins in key segments were broadly in line with the prior year and lines remained full in 2012, operating on a 24/7 basis throughout the full year,” he says.

Currently about 60-65% of Jacob Holm’s overall capacity is sold into the global wipes market while the balance is primarily sold into the hygiene market for diaper components and feminine hygiene applications. While efforts to diversify beyond wipes have been strong in recent years, Holm continues to develop new products in its core wipes business. These include 100% synthetic wipes with an aperture or smooth surface for disinfecting applications, a variety of premium lightweight wipes that range from 30-40 gsm using specialty fibers and a new range of 100% cellulosic/sustainable products.

Variety in raw materials has helped Jacob Holm in the global wipes market, which is still a growth market, albeit one with very pressurized margins, particularly in developed markets. Here, Jacob Holm’s efforts have been recognized by wipes converter Rockline Industries, who honored the spunlace maker with its Supplier Innovation Award in 2011 and again in 2012.

While wipes undoubtedly remain a priority, Jacob Holm has expanded its processing capabilities beyond lightweight hygiene applications to develop mid- to heavyweight fabrics for industrial applications such as automotives, apparel and furniture, areas that have traditionally used needlepunch fabrics. In the lightweight hygiene category, Jacob Holm continues to push the lowest basis weight limits that spunlace can supply, continuing to target 20 gsm and lower, in order to compete with alternate nonwovens technologies while providing the same performance as heavier spunlace nonwovens.

Efforts like these have helped Jacob Holm continue to grow during the past several years without adding new capacity, Landon says. The company’s most recent investment, a large line in North Carolina was added in 2006 and has been running at sold-out status for several years but to date the company has announced no final plans for a second line at the site.