Toray acquires TenCate Advanced Composites

Carbon fiber manufacturer Toray Industries Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) announced on March 14 that it has reached an agreement with Koninklijke Ten Cate B.V. (KTC, Almelo, The Netherlands) to purchase all shares of its subsidiary TenCate Advanced Composites Holding B.V. (Morgan Hill, CA, US and Nijverdal, The Netherlands), a specialist in thermoplastic and thermoset prepreg manufacturing. Purchase price, according to a statement issued by Toray, is €930 million ($1.15 billion).

Toray also notes that in the aerospace industry, demand for medium- and small-sized, single-aisle aircraft is growing significantly and the development of next-generation aircraft targeting such demand is expected to intensify. Toray says it is assumed that the use of thermoplastic prepreg will further increase for medium- and small-sized mass-produced aircraft.

While Toray already has a large number of transactions in the carbon fiber business for aerospace applications, the company says it was facing the challenge of further technology development in diverse fields including thermoplastic prepreg, in addition to the existing thermoset prepreg and the establishment of a business base to respond to the anticipated expansion in demand in aircraft applications.

Toray says the acquisition is expected to generate significant synergies by combining the product lineup in which TenCate Advanced Composites specializes with the range of carbon fiber as well as polymer technologies, which Toray says are its strengths. Combining the two companies' distribution channels, the company can offer a wider product lineup to the customers. Toray says it will respond swiftly to the expansion of the market for small-sized aircraft and expand the business further for industrial use applications including automobiles in the medium- to long-term.

Toray and KTC plan to sign without delay a share purchase agreement on this acquisition after completing discussions with the Works Council, as stipulated by Dutch laws. The acquisition will be carried out based on the premise of receiving approval from regulatory authorities.

While the companies plan to sign the agreement in March 2018, it is subject to change as it is conditional upon completing the discussions with the Works Council. The date of the share purchase is planned in 2nd half of 2018, but this is also subject to change as it is conditional upon obtaining the approvals from regulatory authorities.