US composites manufacturer Hexcel (Stamford, Connecticut; www.hexcel.com) is in exclusive negotiations to acquire Structil, a French producer and supplier of high-performance composites to the aerospace, defence and industrial markets.

Structil is a joint venture between Safran Ceramics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Safran (Vert-le-Petit / France; www.safran-group.com), and Mitsubishi Chemical (Tokyo / Japan; www.mitsubishichem-hd.co.jp). The company has around 70 employees and generated sales of about USD 21m (EUR 19m) last year. From its plant in Vert-le-Petit, Structil produces prepregs, structural adhesives and pultruded profiles used in engine nacelles, aerospace interiors and military jets, among other applications.

“This acquisition would further enhance our product offerings to our customers in aerospace and industrial providing an expanded choice of advanced composite solutions. The integration of the Structil team would also further strengthen our development capability and technologies for next-generation aerospace and industrial applications,” said Nick Stanage, Hexcel’s chairman, CEO and president.

The transaction is expected to close some time in 2017, subject to reviews and approvals by employee representative bodies and French authorities.

In January, Hexcel bought an equity stake of just below 10% in Carbon Conversions (Lake City, South Carolina / USA; www.carbonconversions.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 27.01.2017.