In addition to serving the local market, WindowMaster also sees large opportunities in supporting German façade companies who are winning projects all over the US. In recent years german façade companies have managed to win large projects in the U.S., and they continue to invest in building up their local presence.
The decision to acquire Clearline comes in tandem with the increased investment by German façade companies, many of which, WindowMaster has worked with in a range of building projects throughout the years. The goal is clear, increase turnover and enhance locale presence in the U.S.:
“Our turnover from the US today is less than 5% of our total global turnover. However, with the acquisition of Clearline we are well into the double-digits. I do expect that the turnover of our US operations within a few years will be at the same size as Germany and the UK”, says CEO of WindowMaster, Erik Boyter.
WindowMaster sells window actuators and controls to the façade and skylight market and has been experiencing an increased demand in the US. Since establishing a local sales office in 2016, the pipeline and order book have grown notably. However, to accelerate market penetration, the company chose to acquire Clearline Inc.
The acquisition secures national distribution capabilities
Clearline has been in the market of distributing window actuators for 50 years. Over the years, they have built up a strong name in the market and have customers all over the country. The main customer groups are façade constructors, glaziers and window manufactures.
“With the acquisition of Clearline, we get access to customers in the façade market all over the US. It would have taken us many years to build up that kind of network.”, says Mr. Boyter.
WindowMaster
He continues by highlighting how the added East Coast presence will benefit customers: “We will now have an office on both the East and West coast. This will improve our customer service by extending our coverage and furthermore reducing our lead times. We know that our German customers will appreciate that”.
As WindowMater has been in the market since 2016, the product portfolio of window actuators and controls are already UL approved. UL approvals are necessary to sell window automation in the US.
WindowMaster in short
WindowMaster was founded in 1990 by the VKR Group (owner of Velux), but was divested in 2015. Today WindowMaster is owned by CEO, Erik Boyer.
In Germany, WindowMaster has a sales office in Hamburg, and production in Herford (between Hannover and Bielefeld). In the US, the sales office is currently based in San Francisco.
WindowMaster develops and manufactures sustainable indoor climate solutions for commercial buildings. The key target group is façade constructors and system houses, who primarily purchase window actuators. The. company has several reference projects in the US, like the PNC Tower in Pittsburg, the Bullitt Center in Seattle and Harvard University in Boston.
