Private equity firm Element Partners has announced that it is to acquire both Bekaert Advanced Coatings (BAC) and Soleras Ltd, with the two companies merging to form Soleras Advanced Coatings.
BAC is the trade name of Bekaert’s industrial coatings division. Both it and the Maine-based Soleras develop equipment and rotatable targets for thin-film sputter deposition. The acquisition of BAC includes the division’s facilities in Belgium, China and Wisconsin, USA.
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The headquarters of Soleras Advanced Coatings are to be located in Deinze, Belgium, with Maurice Murphy as its CEO. Mr Murphy was formerly CEO of PPC Insulators.
The new company will supply key hardware and material targets for the manufacture of thin-film PV modules, as well as for a variety of other industrial applications, including the production of displays for touch-screen devices.
“We are combining two world class companies with a range of complementary technologies to create the world’s leading manufacturer of rotatable targets and equipment,” commented Sujit Banerjee, managing director of Element Partners. “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.”
