Bulten produces and develops high-tech fasteners, primarily to the automotive industry, but also has a clear growth strategy for other industries. It was therefore a natural step to acquire the Asian company Exim with its base in Singapore and thereby enter the field of distribution. With Exim, Bulten gains access to a large and broad customer base in growth industries in a dynamic region.

“Exim is a well-managed company with an international customer base and developed processes for distribution and Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), which is suitable for industries with completely different purchasing patterns than Bulten has historically been used to”

Anders Nyström, President and CEO of Bulten Group

The acquisition was financed by an existing credit facility from Swedish Handelsbanken and a loan from SEK, which thereby became a new financier for Bulten.

Bulten’s history began back in 1873 when two innovative engineers saw a business opportunity of producing fasteners for trains, railways and bridges. After the end of the Second World War, Bulten established itself as a leading European manufacturer of fasteners.

Today, Bulten is headquartered in Gothenburg, has 1,800 employees across three continents and is considered one of the largest global suppliers of high-quality fasteners. Bulten has also profiled itself as a developer of innovative solutions with a focus on sustainability.

The attractive location in Singapore in a region with healthy growth provides favorable opportunities for Bulten to make use of Exim’s sales network to increase sales in their existing factories in China and Taiwan. Since 1982, Exim has distributed fasteners and components with low unit prices that manufacturing companies stock in large quantities from over 1,800 manufacturers and suppliers with operations in Asia.

In addition to its head office in Singapore, the company is also active in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam and has over 1,000 customers active in a number of industries, including telecoms, electronics, energy, medical devices, aerospace and other industrial manufacturing.