WARRINGTON, ENGLAND — Volex Group plc has acquired a 60 percent stake in Brazilian telecommunications equipment producer Telepart Industria e Comercio Ltda.
Warrington-based Volex, a leading global electrical power-cord and electronic cable-assembly manufacturer, is paying up to £8.25 million ($13.4 million) to purchase the Jacarei, Brazil-based firm. Under the deal, part of the cash payment will be subject to the firm's attaining minimum profit levels during the next three years.
Volex already has 24 plants in Europe, the Americas and Asia. European plants are in England, Scotland, Ireland and Croatia. North American operations include Ottawa, Ontario; San Diego and Sunnyvale, Calif.; Conover, N.C.; Dartmouth, Mass.; and Tijuana and Aguascalientes, Mexico.
In addition, Volex runs Asian operations in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, according to sales and marketing director Peter Ford.
Most of its plants include injection molding capability, and the company runs hundreds of presses in the 35- to 70-ton range, he said. It also makes its own molds for custom production, Ford said in a telephone interview from Volex's North American headquarters at Quincy, Mass.
``This acquisition is key to our global strategy to support our major multinational customers such as Ericsson, Lucent, Nortel and Qualcomm,'' said Volex Chief Executive Officer Dom Molloy. ``It will provide the group with a strong manufacturing base in the emerging South American markets.''
Volex has the option to buy the remaining 40 percent of Telepart.
``Brazil is very strategic for us with its growing telecom market. A lot of customers worldwide have put factories down there and want us to follow them,'' Ford said.
Ford added that Telepart does not currently mold plastic parts for assemblies, but Volex plans to introduce the process and some new products for the Brazilian market.
