M&As: Hexcel to buy Structil; United Caps to buy Dewit Plastics

Composites firm Hexcel Corporation is to acquire all of the shares of Structil SA (Structil), a French producer and supplier of high-performance composites to the aerospace, defence and industrial markets.

The proposed transaction is subject to review by relevant employee representative bodies and approval from the applicable French authorities. Assuming those reviews and approvals are successfully completed, the acquisition is expected to close in 2017.

Structil is a joint venture between Safran Ceramics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Safran, and Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (formerly Mitsubishi Rayon Corporation). The company employs approximately 70 people at a 68,000-sq ft production plant on a 7-acre site in Vert-le-Petit, France, about 25 miles south of Paris. Structil's 2016 sales were approximately US$21 million. The company’s product lines include prepregs, structural adhesives and pultruded profiles used in engine nacelles, aerospace interiors, military jets and more.

Safran Ceramics CEO Gerard Frut said, “The project proposed by Hexcel would make Structil an integral part of the strategy applied by a global leader in advanced composites, with solid experience in production, widely recognized by its customers, especially in France, where it invests regularly. It offers an excellent technological and industrial fit with Structil, which will immediately benefit from the new environment offered by Hexcel to catalyse its development.”

Hexcel’s Chairman/CEO/President, Nick Stanage, said, “By combining Structil’s advanced composites product portfolio of prepregs, adhesives and pultrusions with ours, this acquisition would further enhance our product offerings to our customers in aerospace and industrial, providing an expanded choice of advanced composite solutions. The integration of the Structil team would also further strengthen our development capability and technologies for next generation aerospace and industrial applications. Hexcel is a Safran First Circle supplier, and this project will further reinforce our strong 30-year-long partnership.”

In other news, cap/closure maker United Caps is acquiring from Dewit Plastics its caps, closures and handles business. This includes screw, tamper-evident (TE) and child-resistant (CRC) closures as well as handles for large containers. Dewit Plastics will continue operation of its remaining injection moulding and thermoforming businesses. This acquisition expands the range of offerings United Caps can provide to customers, the firm says.

United Caps says it will be integrating the acquired production assets into its plant in Hoboken, Belgium, over the next several weeks.

Alain Cap, owner of Dewit Plastics, said the company will now be better positioned to focus on its core injection moulding and thermoforming businesses.