Rehau Group Pulls Out of Russia

The Rehau Group announced yesterday that it will sell its business in Russia to local management and withdraw completely from the country. A preliminary agreement has been signed by both parties, the company said in a news release.

The withdrawal follows a prior announcement on March 4 that the group would ramp down its business in Russia in a controlled manner as a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “The development of the past weeks has made further decisions unavoidable,” said Rehau.

The Rehau Group has been active in Russia for around 30 years and has served the market there primarily with polymer-based solutions for the window, construction, and furniture sectors. It also has operations in Ukraine and Belarus. In March it suspended operations in Belarus. The press release distributed yesterday does not mention any further impact on its presence in Belarus beyond the suspension.

A privately held company, Rehau was founded in 1948. Today, it employs more than 20,000 people at more than 190 sites across the world. The global headquarters are in Muri, Switzerland.

The group develops and manufactures polymer-based products for the automotive, construction, furniture, materials, medical and industrial sectors. Its medical arm, Raumedic, is based in Helmbrechts, Germany, and provides extrusion, injection molding, and assembly services to medical device OEMs globally. The company began operations at its North American headquarters in Mills River, NC — its only production faciility outside of Germany — in April 2016.