Thin Film Coatings
Soleras and Bekaert Advanced Coatings to be Merged
Growth equity firm Element Partners announced that agreements have been signed for the acquisition of the Industrial Coatings Division of Bekaert and the acquisition of privately held Soleras Ltd. The two companies will be combinded to form a new business, named Soleras Advanced Coatings.
The deal includes Bekaert´s facilities in Deinze, Belgium, Jiangyin, China, and Spring Green, Wisconsin, USA and the acquisition of privately held Soleras Ltd, located in Biddeford, Maine, USA. The agreements are subject to regulatory approvals, which are expected by April 2012.
The two companies have complementary manufacturing technologies used to produce advanced, rotatable, and planar targets for use in various large area coating applications. Soleras Ltd has a long history of developing new target fabrication techniques including cast technology for production of rotatable targets. The Industrial Coatings Division, which operates under the trade name Bekaert Advanced Coatings (BAC) is a high volume, high quality producer of rotatable targets using internally developed thermal spray technology.
Additionally, BAC is the leading developer and supplier of rotatable hardware required for the application of advanced large area coatings. Soleras Advanced Coatings will provide key equipment and consumable advanced material targets to many industrial segments, including the manufacture of thin film photovoltaic panels.
Sujit Banerjee, Managing Director at Element Partners commented on the acquisitions: “We are excited about the synergies of Soleras and Bekaert Advanced Coatings. We believe the combination of knowledge and technological expertise will improve the way we serve our customers.” Soleras Advanced Coatings will be headquartered in Deinze, Belgium. Maurice Murphy will be CEO of the new company.