Household appliance firm Glen Dimplex has acquired Faber BV, a gas heating business based in Holland.

Faber, which manufactures and distributes gas decorative fires and domestic room heaters, has an annual turnover of £15 million (€19.1 million).

Its main markets are in continental Europe where its products are sold under the Faber and Pelgrim brands.

Glen Dimplex would not disclose how much it was paying for the company, which employs around 50 people.

The privately held Irish firm says it now dominates the worldwide electric fire market, where its share is more than 75 per cent, which it attributes to constant "product innovation".

It plans to introduce a similar level of innovation to the gas and solid fuel sectors of the global decorative fires market.

The acquisition is a first step towards achieving that objective, Glen Dimplex said.

"We have built a successful fire products group primarily in the US and the UK and it is our strategy to build it up in the continental European market.

"At the same time, we want to build up our presence in the gas and solid fuel sectors and this is the first step," said Mr Sean O'Driscoll, group chief executive of Glen Dimplex.

Glen Dimplex is the world's largest manufacturer of electric heating products.

These products account for about 50 per cent of its sales.

The firm, founded by Mr Martin Naughton and Mr Lochlann Quinn, has an annual turnover of £650 million and substantial electric appliance manufacturing operations in the Republic and Northern Ireland, Britain, France, Germany and Canada and employs 6,500 people worldwide.

It employs 2,500 people in Ireland, including 1,000 at its manufacturing operations in Dunleer, Co Louth, and in Tralee, Co Kerry.