COMPOSITE
TOOLING
NEWS
20
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tencate expands reach and offerings
with amber composites acquisition
High Temperature Bond Tools
• BMI
• Epoxy
Mill Fixtures
Pressure Intensifiers / Cauls
Backup Structure Materials
• Panels, Tubes, Angles
Backup Structure Kits
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high-performance composites
T
hermoplastic composites giant TenCate (Nijverdal, The
Netherlands) reported on Jan. 16 that it has reached an
agreement in its quest to acquire Amber Composites
(Langley Mill, Nottingham, U.K.), a manufacturer of thermoset composites for the industrial and automotive markets.
The deal is expected to accelerate TenCate's European market
activities in the thermoset composite materials field.
TenCate developed thermoplastic composites for the aviation industry 20 years ago, under the brand name TenCate
Cetex. The company says this acquisition will help increase
its U.S. and European presence in industrial and automotive
composites, tooling materials and aerospace applications with
a stronger and more balanced product portfolio that features
both thermoplastic and thermoset composites.
The move followed TenCate's recently announced alliance
with BASF AG (Ludwigshafen, Germany) to develop, manufacture and commercialize thermoplastic composites suitable
for high-volume automotive production, and the company's
agreement with 3M (St. Paul, Minn.), aimed at increasing TenCate's presence in the U.S. tooling market. Tooling composites is a reported area of strength for Amber Composites. The
recent acquisitions of PMC Baycomp (Burlington, Ontario,
Canada) in North America and, now, Amber Composites support the company's expansion plans in this market.