The Freudenberg Group is strengthening its technical textiles and filtration businesses: Freudenberg SE, Weinheim, Germany, is acquiring the 25 percent stake in Japan Vilene Company Ltd. (JVC), Tokyo, Japan, held by its joint venture partner Toray Industries, Inc. (Toray), Tokyo, Japan. This makes Freudenberg the sole owner of JVC, a leading nonwovens manufacturer in the Japanese market. Freudenberg is exercising its purchase option contained in the joint venture agreement. The purchase agreement is scheduled to be signed in December 2025. The purchase price for the shares is roughly 100 million euros.
JVC offers a broad portfolio of products for a wide range of “Automotive”, “Medical”, “Electrical” and “Industrial” applications. The company operates 15 production sites worldwide, including two sites in Japan. Working in close cooperation with Freudenberg Performance Materials and Freudenberg Filtration Technologies, Japan Vilene Company operates a network of production and sales joint ventures throughout Asia.
Founded in 1960 as a joint venture
JVC was founded in 1960 by Freudenberg and Japanese partners as a joint venture.
In 2015, Freudenberg SE and Toray acquired all common shares in JVC through a joint public tender. JVC was subsequently delisted in December 2015. The remaining shareholders of JVC were Freudenberg (75 percent) and Toray (25 percent).
In February 2016, Freudenberg and Toray signed a new joint venture agreement. Based on that, Freudenberg gained control of JVC in April 2016. Since then, JVC has been operating as a Freudenberg business group in the “Technical Textiles and Filtration” business area.
