Ideal Standard Completes Merger of Bulgarian Subsidiaries

The two affiliates of Ideal Standard International that operate in the Bulgarian town of Sevlievo were formally merged in one company, officials have announced.

The merger between Ideal Standard Bulgaria and Ideal Standard Vidima was completed on January 31, 2011, company executives announced at a news conference in Sofia. The merger was originally supposed to be finalized a day earlier; the merging did not affect the production operations of the two plants.

Thus, as of February 1, 2011, the two subsidiaries of Ideal Standard in Bulgaria are in a single company known as "Ideal Standard Vidima" Jsc.

Officials have announced that the reason behind the decision was to simplify the legal structure of Ideal Standard International in the countries where such procedure was possible.

They have pointed out that the merger of the two Bulgarian plants will strengthen the company's position as one of the largest private employers in Bulgaria with a total of 3 300 employees. The merger is also supposed to help improve further the service provided to the end consumers thanks to better flexibility and efficiency.

The merger has not affected the labor contracts of the Bulgarian employees of Ideal Standard; the manufacturing operations of the company in Bulgaria will remain the same.

Before the merger, Ideal Standard Bulgaria produced ceramic sanitary fixtures and Ideal Standard Vidima was specialized in producing bathroom sanitary ware, fittings and accessories.

The united Bulgarian subsidiary of Ideal Standard will keep the production of the two affiliates and will also carry out the sales and distributions of bathroom solutions in Bulgaria and other European countries.

The management of the united Ideal Standard Vidima Jsc has been taken over by a Board of Directors. Vasil Kanev will be the Board Chair and CEO of Ideal Standard Vidima, and will retain the position of Vice President for Eastern Europe of Ideal Standard International.

The CEOs of the two former subsidiaries Krasimir Kopchev and Valentin Ganev will keep this positions as members of the Board, and will continue to have executive functions in their fields.

The other members of the Board of Ideal Standard Vidima are Claudia Crescenzi, VP of Ideal Standard International, Yaroslav Donchev, CFO, and Milena Bogdanova, HR director for Eastern Europe.

Ideal Standard International is based in Brussels, Belgium, operates in European, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific, and in Latin America through a joint venture with Inseca. Its international brands include Ideal Standard, Jado, American Standard, Incesa Standard, Armitage Shanks, Ceramica Dolomite, Porcher, and Vidima. Boston-based private equity Bain Capital LLC is the principal shareholder in Ideal Standard International. The company has 11 000 employees in over 20 countries.

Thanks to the massive investments of Ideal Standard International in Bulgaria, the town of Sevlielov with population of 30 000, is one of the smaller towns in Bulgaria with the best standard of living.