Exel Composites (Mäntyharju / Finland; www.exelcomposites.com), which manufactures pultruded and wound composite profiles, is establishing a foothold in the US with its purchase of Diversified Structural Composites (DSC, Erlanger, Kentucky / USA; www.diversified-composites.com). The Finnish company is paying USD 10m (EUR 8.5m) for DSC, a subsidiary of carbon fibre producer Teijin (Tokyo / Japan; www.teijin.com). The transaction is expected to be completed before the end of May.

With a payroll of 90 in Kentucky, DSC produces pultruded profiles with glass and carbon fibre reinforcement for the wind energy sector. The company's latest figures show a loss of just under USD 1m for sales of USD 19m. DSC has been undergoing restructuring since 2015, and Exel CEO Riko Kytömäki is intending to restore it to at least break even in the coming year.

Shortly after the acquisition was announced, Exel rather unsurprisingly announced that it was expecting "significantly higher figures" for its sales and operating result in 2018. The Finnish composites processor produces fibre-reinforced parts and semi-finished products primarily for industrial applications, as well as for the construction and infrastructure sectors – including electricity pylons.

At EUR 86.3m, sales in 2017 were considerably higher than for the previous year, which is presumably largely due to the acquisition of Chinese company Nanjing Jianhui Composite Material (JHFRP, Nanjing, Jiangsu; www.frp-jh.com), whose facility is located in the vicinity of the Exel production plant in Nanjing. Adjusted operating profit rose from EUR 2.6m to EUR 6.3m and net profit also went up from breakeven point the previous year to stand at EUR 4.2m.