WCA January 2022

Industry news

Bufab acquires Component Solutions Group Bufab has entered into an agreement to acquire all outstanding shares in the US company Components Solutions Group, Inc (CSG). CSG, headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, is a distributor of fasteners and other C-class components to the North American market. It also owns three subsidiaries – two in Ohio and one in Kentucky. CSG was founded in 2000, and has been mainly owned and run by its current president, Ernie Riling, and his colleagues and minority owners Matt Coy, Ken DeCrane, Thomas Girgash and Rick Clark. Under their leadership, CSG has expanded into a technically oriented supply chain partner with customers across many industries. that CSG is joining the Bufab Group,” said Johan Lindqvist, Bufab’s acting president and CEO. “Over many meetings in the past years, we have gotten to know the company well, and see great similarities to Bufab in the solution-oriented, entrepreneurial approach to creating customer value.” Mr Riling added, “By joining Bufab, we will be able to continue to improve our customer offering, grow our business and strengthen our team. It will be business as usual, with the same high ambition level, but now as a part of a globally leading organisation. I am pleased to continue as president and CEO at CSG, and together with the whole CSG team I look forward to the cooperation with Bufab.” Nucor Fastener to expand with acquisition of coil processing facility “It gives me great pleasure to announce

The acquisition will be financed within Bufab’s existing credit facilities. The purchase price paid upon closing of the transaction amounts to $26mn on a cash- and debt-free basis. A performance- related purchase consideration of a maximum of $10mn may be paid in 2023-2024, conditional on a significantly improved profit. Bufab was founded in 1977 in Småland, Sweden, and now has operations in 28 countries. The company offers a full- service solution as supply chain partner for sourcing, quality control and logistics for C-parts (screws, nuts, etc). Bufab Group www.bufab.com new facility will allow Nucor to better serve the automotive cold heading quality (CHQ) market. The Shelbyville facility will allow the Nucor Engineered Bar group to offer processed coil for demanding automotive CHQ applications. Nucor Fastener, which has been operating since 1986, produces alloy steel hex head cap screws, heavy hex bolts and nuts, and Tru-Tension ® assemblies. Nucor fasteners are used in markets including auto- motive, machine tools, farm implements, construction and military applications. Nucor Corp www.nucor.com diverse industries around the world. With experience in highly technological, cus- tom-made solutions and a flexible manu- facturing capacity, Lesjöfors is a partner for all spring requirements. The group, owned by Beijer Alma – a listed com- pany on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, comprises almost 40 manufacturing and sales companies in various countries. As a long-term and committed spring innova- tor, the group continuously grows with a good profitability, both organically and by acquisitions. Lesjöfors AB www.lesjoforsab.com

Ola Tengroth, president of Lesjöfors, commented on the decision: “Divesting a company is an exception in our operation. We have made several acquisitions in recent years which, in most cases, have strengthened the group and contributed with attractive profitability. The decision to divest S&P follows a careful evaluation and is based on the fact that S&P has limited synergies with our other companies. We are convinced that S&P will have a favourable development with its new owners.” The Lesjöfors Group provides a wide range of springs and pressings to customers in assets,” said Joey Loosle, general manager of Nucor Fastener. “Adding bolt-making capability to the Shelbyville facility will help expand our offerings to the automotive, heavy truck, industrial/MRO and structural fastener markets.” By recycling steel in electric arc furnaces, Nucor is among the cleanest steel producers, with greenhouse gas emissions that are one third of the global steelmaking average and nearly one fifth of the average blast furnace steel producer. Nucor’s fastener products are made with 97 per cent recycled content. Along with recently announced upgrades at the Nebraska engineered bar mill, the

Nucor Corp is expanding its fastener division with the acquisition of an existing coil processing facility in Shelbyville, Indiana, USA. The facility includes an automated clean and coat line, two STC ® furnaces and wire drawing capabilities. In addition to coil processing, the company will be expanding its fastener manufacturing capabilities by installing bolt-making equipment at the Shelbyville facility. This new operation will initially employ approximately 33 team members, with the potential to double those jobs as it reaches full capacity. “We are excited to grow our fastener division with the acquisition of these

Lesjöfors divests S&P Federnwerk Lesjöfors has entered into an agreement to divest 100 per cent of its shares in S&P Federnwerk GmbH.

S&P Federnwerk is a German spring manufacturer with customers mainly in the automotive and agricultural industries. The company has been part of Lesjöfors since 2013 and generated sales of approximately MSEK 110 in 2020. The decision to divest S&P was made following an evaluation of various strategic alternatives for the company, as its profitability has been unsatisfactory for Lesjöfors.

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January 2022