On May 5, 2006, FCI signed an agreement for the sale of its Electrical Power Interconnect (EPI) European and Asian activities to the SICAME group.

publicité

This agreement does not include EPI activities in Japan and in the Americas, where FCI markets its products under the well recognized Burndy brand name. With this divestiture, FCI reinforces its focus on its strongest positions in terms of market share and growth potential. This particularly relates to its automotive, communication, data, consumer and microconnection businesses as well as selective applications in the electrical distribution market.

SICAME is an international group that offers products and services for electricity transportation and distribution, including safety systems and equipment. The integration of EPI Europe and Asia activities within SICAME will permit the company to broaden its product offering and to reinforce its position in emerging countries.

Jean-Lucien Lamy FCI Chairman & Pierre François SICAME Executive Board Chairman

Le holding contrôlé par la famille Wendel a repris Deutsch pour 1,04 milliard de dollars (834 millions d'euros). Spécialisé dans la fabrication de connecteurs pour des marchés variés (aéronautique, défense, véhicules lourds, exploitation pétrolière, télécommunications), la société compte parmi ses clients EADS, Boeing, Dassault Systèmes, Safran, Ferrari, John Deere ou Renault. Son chiffre d'affaires s'est élevé à 500 millions de dollars l'an dernier, dont 40 % réalisé en Europe et 20 % en France. La croissance annuelle était de « 15 % ces dernières années », précise Wendel. Fondé en 1938, Deutsch emploie 3.500 personnes réparties sur 10 sites, dont trois en France.

Pour Wendel, il s'agit d'une première puisque le holding limitait jusqu'à présent son champ d'action à la France. « C'est une affaire familiale correspondant bien à notre philosophie d'investissement », disait-on hier au siège de la société tout en soulignant que plusieurs entreprises du portefeuille opèrent à l'échelle mondiale. D'un point de vue financier, Wendel limite son apport à 350 millions de dollars, le reste étant apporté sous forme de dette. Il contrôlera 89 % du capital « aux côtés du management, qui en détiendra le solde ».

Finland based antenna maker LK Products will down size its operation in Kempele, Finland. 36 workers will be removed between May and August.
May 03, 2006 12:35 (evertiq)
LK Product has decided to turn the Kempele production unit in to a Rresearch and development facility. Later on this year new staff with other skills will be hired to Kempele. LK Product also has production units in Hungary, the United States, China and Korea.

PCB maker Denali Partners (who most recently acquired two plants from Tyco Electronics) announced that they will lay off 362 of its 400 employees in its PCB factory in Madrid.
May 04, 2006 16:21 (Yahoo! Finance)
by: Jesper Olsson
On March 31 Tyco Electronics sold its PCB plants in Valladolid and Madrid and now the new owners, Denali Partners LLC based in USA, announced that the manufacturing will be transferred from the Madrid plant to the company´s plant in Valladolid and to manufacturing units in China. As a result of the transferred production 362 out of 400 employees will be laid off from the company´s Madrid plant.

Tyco Electronics has now only one site left in Europe, the one in Dublin, Ireland

German PCB maker Jumatech GmbH expands its product portfolio and production capacity
with financial support by Cipio Partners, Chemolio Holding AG and various private investors that are competent in the business.
May 11, 2006 18:05 (evertiq)
"JUMATECH is assuming a clear technological pioneering role in printed circuit board manufacturing industry", explains Werner Dreesbach of Cipio Partners. "JUMATECH's wire-written printed circuit boards open up numerous application areas that previously were not
accessible - at substantially reduced cost."

Cipio Partners is an internationally leading investment management house in the secondary direct market. Founded in mid-2003, Cipio manages a number of international funds in early and late-stage venture capital as well as in mid-market investment segments. The investment which is atypical for Cipio Partners is a result from the longstanding and close relationship with JUMATECH's new management team. Cipio has branches in Munich, London, and San Jose. Chemolio Holding is a holding company with headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland that invests in companies active in technology, leisure and health.

MUNICH, Germany & PARIS & COCKEYSVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 9, 2006--EADS and Saft America have combined their expertise in the field of thermal batteries via ASB to form the new subsidiary Advanced Thermal Batteries Inc. Located in Cockeysville, Maryland.
With more than 50 years of experience supplying thermal batteries for missiles, launchers, aircraft, torpedoes and submarines, ASB, Saft America and EADS Inc. are merging their know-how and assets to offer both development and production capacities in the United States.
Advanced Thermal Batteries Inc. supplies customized thermal batteries for missiles and smart weaponry. Thermal batteries are inert batteries designed for absolute reliability and shelf storage of at least 15 years.

According to evertiq's sources, Norwegian PCB distributor Elmatica A/S has bought PCB design firm Nordic Printdesign.
May 03, 2006 09:47 (evertiq)
Elmatica and Nordic Printdesign will together have a total of 32 employees. The turnover in 2005 was 13 million Euros. No figures of the transaction have been revealed.

AT&S annual results for 2005/06 show a 13% increase in sales, and EBIT growth of 24%, dividend to be increased. Sales of EUR 375m and EBIT of over EUR 26m; ramp-up of its second Shanghai facility is to follow in August.
May 10, 2006 12:32 (evertiq)
AT&S, Europe and India's largest producer of printed circuit boards and one of the world's most successful suppliers to the mobile phone industry, posted sales of EUR 375m in 2005/06, a 13% increase. Operating profit (EBIT) for the year was up 24%, to about EUR 26m.

Net income for the year was EUR 28.3m, resulting in earnings per share of EUR 1.09. In 2005/06 AT&S's sales of printed circuit boards for mobile phones exceeded the 100 million mark for the first time in its history. This accounted for approximately 65% of total revenues.

In the 2006/07 financial year beginning in April, Management forecasts further revenue growth of somewhat more than 20%, to take sales to EUR 455m. This increase will be driven by the start of production in the second Shanghai plant, continuation of the boom in the mobile telephone market and growth of the Korean subsidiary, Tofic.