Hexagon Composites sells LPG business, acquires 49% of Worthington's SES business

Hexagon Composites (Ålesund, Norway) has sold its Hexagon Ragasco business to Worthington Enterprises (Columbus, Ohio, U.S.) and acquired a 49% stake in its Sustainable Energy Solutions (SES) business. Hexagon Ragasco has sold more than 20 million glass fiber-reinforced composite cylinders worldwide. SES is a European supplier of Type 3 and 4 high-pressure composite cylinders for storage and distribution of compressed natural gas (CNG), hydrogen and industrial gases.

Worthington Enterprises will acquire 100% of Hexagon Ragasco — a global supplier of lightweight, customizable liquid propane gas (LPG) composite cylinders used for leisure, household and industrial applications — for approximately $98 million. Hexagon Ragasco had adjusted calendar year 2023 sales of approximately $64 million and EBITDA of $12.7 million. The business employs approximately 130 people in Norway and sells its products in more than 100 countries.

With automated production in Raufoss, Norway, Hexagon Ragasco sells to more than 100 countries worldwide. The company’s technology-enabled manufacturing capabilities, along with its ability to easily customize cylinders, are said to make Hexagon Ragasco’s cylinders among the most efficiently produced and quality-consistent composite LPG cylinders in the world. The addition of Hexagon Ragasco furthers Worthington’s interests in advancing the use of clean fuels as part of the global energy transition.

Worthington Enterprises, through its Building Products business segment, also produces cylinders for LPG and refrigerant gases. Therefore, Hexagon Ragasco will become part of this Building Products segment. The acquisition expands the company’s operational footprint in Europe where its Amtrol-Alfa facility in Portugal makes a wide range of cylinders.

“Hexagon Ragasco has been an important part of the Hexagon Group for over 20 years, and we take pride in the position the company has developed to date,” says Jon Erik Engeset, CEO of Hexagon Composites. “Worthington Enterprises is a highly respected player in our industry. This transaction will enable Hexagon Ragasco to grow in new geographies and verticals.”

For more information on the pressure vessel market and the roles of Hexagon and Worthington Enterprises, see “Composites end markets: Pressure vessels (2024).”

Jimmy Bowes, president, Building Products, Worthington Enterprises, adds that Hexagon Ragasco’s composite cylinders will complement its existing cylinder business.”

Moreover, combined with the sale of Hexagon Ragasco, Hexagon Composites has acquired a 49% stake in Worthington’s SES business segment, approximately $10 million. SES generated revenues of €127 million and adjusted EBITDA of €2.9 million in calendar year 2023. “Through our dialogue with Worthington on the sale of Hexagon Ragasco, we identified an opportunity for Hexagon within Worthington’s SES business,” says Engeset. “Together, these transactions support Hexagon’s strategic focus on high-pressure, clean energy solutions.”

The resulting joint venture will focus on the global clean energy transition, specifically storage, transport and distribution of hydrogen and CNG. Worthington Enterprises will maintain 49% ownership and the existing executive management team will hold the remaining 2%. Based in Europe, the SES business segment has more than 500 employees working in its Austria, Germany and Poland facilities.

“The creation of a joint venture with Hexagon is an opportunity to bring in an experienced partner and work together to develop the next phase of the SES business in an evolving marketplace,” says Andy Rose, president and CEO of Worthington Enterprises. A presentation with more information on the transactions can be found on the investor relations section of the company’s website.