Henkel has signed an agreement to participate in the membership program of The International Centre for Industrial Transformation (INCIT). By joining INCIT´s partner network the Adhesive Technologies business unit aims to leverage INCITs tools and frameworks to further drive the digital transformation of its operations. Henkel is the first company to join INCIT’s membership programme, following the inclusion of multiple governments. |
Three officials of U.K.-based Alloy Wire International (AWI) have purchased the business from the owners through a buy-out.
A press release said that Managing Director Tom Mander, Technical Director Andrew Du Plessis and Finance Director Adam Shaw have completed the deal. “This is another major milestone in the history of AWI and gives us the platform to capitalize on recent growth and massive export opportunities,” Mander said. He noted that the owners have over 45 years’ combined experience of working here. “It was a natural progression for us to step forward and take the business on, with previous Managing Director Mark Venables moving to Chairman for the next five years and R&D Director Angus Hogarth taking a consultancy role.”
Per the company website, this marks the third such MBO change for the 77-year-old company. In 1991, the management team of Bill Graham, Len Deeley, Martin Cobb, Paul Wiltshire and Tony Tonks led a management buy-out. Mark Venerable joined the company in 2010 and became managing director in 2011, with Graham becoming chairman. In 2013, the management team of Venerables, Angus Hogarth, Ian Fitzgerald and Pete Lambe bought the company. “There’s something very special about this business and this MBO ensures we maintain and cultivate this for the next 75 years,” Manser said.
The company notes that it has a solid global customer base that is 6,000 strong. It has targeted annual sales of £15 million, which would be a new high. Supporting that goal, the company plans to make investments of nearly £1 million this year that will include new wet drawing and single-hole dry drawing machines, an annealing line spooler and several hundred metric tons of raw material.
AWI has two state-of-the-art factories and a network of 45 international offices. It supplies sectors that include aerospace, nuclear, automotive, chemical, electronic, medical and oil and gas.
Venables said that he is delighted that the new owners have come from within the company. “The new management team are well versed in the Alloy Wire International culture and will also bring a youthful exuberance, passion, and eagerness to innovate traditional processes and industry norms. They have already ring-fenced significant investment for the next five years and are keen to work on increasing our international network of agents, with discussions currently taking place on establishing a bigger presence in Egypt and the Middle East. ... I’m really looking forward to seeing how Tom, Adam and Andrew take the business forward.”
Superior Essex Inc. has signed an agreement to purchase Lacroix + Kress GmbH, a leading oxygen-free copper (OFC) drawing manufacturer in Europe, from Mutares SE & Co. KG.
A press release said that the strategic acquisition further solidifies a commitment by Superior Essex to the growing EV market. OFC, it noted, is a key component in electric vehicles (EVs). The deal will allow Superior Essex to create vertically integrated operations in Europe between its magnet wire businesses and a joint manufacturing site in Bramsche, Germany. A second plant in Neunburg vorm Wald, Germany, will also expand the specialty wires offerings. The two plants have approximately 250 employees.
“This is an exciting investment into not only the future but also the present,” said Klaus Borstner, president of Essex Furukawa Magnet Wire Europe, Essex Energy Italy and Global IVA Enamels in Europe and China. He believes the acquisition will create synergy between the plants and more rapidly advancing innovation for the automotive, energy, and industrial industries. “Having the two plants share a location in Bramsche can immediately improve efficiencies, and increase innovation, while the new location in Neunburg vorm Wald allows us to expand our product portfolio. ... We believe that this acquisition will help add value to our existing customers as well as create new opportunities as we honour the existing relationships that originated with Lacroix + Kress.”
The sale of Lacroix + Kress to Superior Essex follows Mutares’ exit strategy to find the best new owner. “We believe that Superior Essex can leverage significant synergies not only due to the already strong business relationship between the two companies but also due to their shared local presence in Central Europe,” said Johannes Laumann, CIO of Mutares SE & Co. KGaA.
Both Superior Essex and Lacroix + Kress were previously affiliated through a European Joint Venture with Nexans in 2005. This acquisition brings the two companies once again under the same ownership. The transaction is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2023.
Messe Düsseldorf, the world’s largest organizer of trade events for the wire and cable industry, announced a new investment that will see it be active in Turkey as well as an offer for 2024 wire Düsseldorf exhibitors.
A press release said that on May 24-27, 2023, Messe Düsseldorf will hold two new trade fairs—wire Eurasia and Tube Eurasia—for the first time in Istanbul. They will initially be run as an investment business venture during two Turkish trade fairs: Wire Tech Istanbul and Tube + Steel Istanbul. These two events are held by Tüyap Fair Istanbul, a leading Turkish trade fair organizer and venue operator since 1979, at the Tüyap Fair Convention and Congress Center. From 2025 on, wire and Tube Eurasia will be organized as independent trade fairs at two-year intervals.
By way of this cooperation Tüyap and Messe Düsseldorf strengthen their concentrated expertise in the metal fairs segment. “The expansion of our metal trade fair portfolio towards Turkey is important and necessary to ensure continued growth in the market and to match our exhibitors’ changed needs,” said Daniel Ryfisch, director of Messe Düsseldorf’s wire, Tube and Flow Technologies portfolio. More information will soon be accessible at www.wire-eurasia.com.
Messe Düsseldorf also announced that, for the first time, early-bird discounts will be offered to exhibitors at wire Düsseldorf, to be held April 15-19, 2024. The discount will be available for wire 2024 at www.wire.de/1330 (German link) and www.wire.de/2330 (English link). wire 2022 saw 1,822 exhibitors from 50 countries presented on around 93,000 sq m for the combined wire and tube events.
The executive committee of the Spring Manufacturers Institute (SMI) announced that it has canceled its Metal Engineering eXpo event, which had been scheduled for Sept. 12-14, 2023, at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
A press release said that SMI has entered into an agreement with the Chicago Association of Spring Manufacturers, Inc. (CASMI) to combine their trade shows in 2024. The combined CASMI SpringWorld and the SMI Metal Engineering eXpo will now take place Oct. 2-4, 2024, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. The 2024 event will combine the strengths of the two associations into one trade show for the good of the industry where SMI provides technical education and CASMI provides the venue.
“In light of the recent decision to combine the shows, we made the decision for the good of the industry to cancel our show so we can put all our energy and resources toward the event in 2024,” said SMI President Gene Huber, Jr., of Winamac Coil Spring.
SMI had been scheduled to host the next ISO/TC227 meetings on Sept. 14-15, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada, in conjunction with the 2023 Metal Engineering eXpo. SMI will continue to host the meetings with a date and location to be announced soon.
SMI serves as the technical advisory group to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for ISO/TC227. The role of the U.S. delegation is essential to ensure that the interests of American spring manufacturers, designers, and consumers are represented in international standards development.
Exhibitors who reserved space for the eXpo will receive a refund for any payments made.
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