Swiss specialist for plastics machinery components Xaloy (CH-4601 Olten; www.xaloy.com) has acquired US-based New Castle Industries (New Castle, Pennsylvania, 16107; www.newcas.com) for USD 17m from Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15219; www.ampcopittsburgh.com). New Castle, which produces screws, cylinders and rolls for plastification technology, employed 234 and had sales of USD 24.6m in 2002.

The acquisition enhances Xaloy´s core businesses in a number of respects, said Walter G. Cox, CEO of the Swiss group. New Castle´s strong presence in extruder screws, with its three well positioned brands “Gross”, “Keystone” and “Tanner”, complements Xaloy´s strengths in injection moulding screws. The takeover also will give the machinery group the opportunity to tackle the “long overdue” task of consolidating its US activities, Cox added.

As an additional benefit, the deal will enhance the value of Xaloy, according to its parent company, Saurer Management AG (CH-8401 Winterthur; www.saurer.com). Saurer has announced plans to divest its surface technology unit – to which Xaloy belongs – to concentrate on its core business of textile machinery.