Singapore’s COMCRAFT acquires majority stake in Merbok MDF Lanka

COMCRAFT – a leading international investment house based in Singapore– acquired the majority stake in Merbok MDF Lanka Ltd., which is Sri Lanka’s only high quality MDF board manufacturing plant. Considered as one of Sri Lanka’s largest factories, the plant is situated in Horana and produces in excess of 10,000 m3 of high quality MDF boards. Currently, the primary export markets for the MDF boards are India, Pakistan, Middle East and Australia.  

No stranger to Sri Lanka, COMCRAFT has been investing in Sri Lanka for the past 35 years. Some of COMCRAFT’s significant investments in Sri Lankan companies are their investments in Lanka Aluminium Industries PLC, Metecno Lanka Ltd., Mainetti Lanka Ltd. – the world’s largest manufacturer of clothes hangers, ACME Printing and Packaging PLC, CIC Agri Businesses Ltd., and several other privately held companies manufacturing mostly steel and aluminium products. 

“As a significant longstanding investor in Sri Lanka, COMCRAFT clearly appreciates the resiliency and the potential that Sri Lanka has to offer. They have reiterated their commitment by making this large investment in Merbok MDF Lanka,” said Merbok MDF Lanka Chairman and Lanka Aluminium Group Managing Director Dinal Peiris, who represents COMCRAFT in Sri Lanka.

“Our product quality is quite special and this allows us to export to traditional MDF manufacturing countries, such as India and Pakistan. We are also planning to diversify into the manufacture of value-added products such as furniture, mainly targeting the export market,” he added. 

Merbok MDF Lankais also the only manufacturer of high-density shutter boards in the region, which is widely used in the construction industry. Impervious to moisture, shutter boards can be reused as shutter in the construction industry. 

MDF boards are used for a variety of applications, ranging from manufacture of furniture to interiorsof many apartments and offices. The high density and meticulous production techniques used by Merbok MDF Lanka makes its products less prone to damages caused by moisture and water due to its impervious nature. Currently, the company exports approximately 70% of its production and sells 30% to the local market,which is distributed island-wide through a few selected companies.

After the acquisition, Merbok MDF Lankaalso intends embarking on a large-scalesolar panel power generation facility and has already reduced its reliance on fossil fuels by over 90% by using biomass as fuel.

MerbokMDF Lanka,which was a BOI venture, has now signed a supplementary agreement to suspend the provisions of the original agreement to allow the company to sell more to the local market. The newly constituted Board of Directors of the company are Dinal Peiris, Dr. Jayantha Swaminathan, Max Norris and Robert Kokshroon.