Perlos Corp., a Finnish maker of telecommunications components, will grow in Asia with the takeover of an expanding Chinese parts molder and its mold-making sister company.
Perlos of Nurmijärvi, Finland, agreed to acquire Hong Kong-based Ace Plastics Co. Ltd. and its sister Ace Mold Co. Ltd., both of which have plants in Shenzhen, China.
The two firms plan to open a Shanghai, China, plant next year, according to Perlos.
The privately owned Ace companies, heavy exporters of molds and injection molded components to Europe and North America, together employ about 800 and have combined sales of US$28 million, according to Jari Laaninen, Perlos director of investor relations.
``By taking over the Ace companies, we are acquiring cost-effective additional capacity in mold manufacturing and injection molding in a fast-growing market. This will also expand our customer base,'' Laaninen said.
Currently Perlos does most of its mold making in Finland, but the company wanted to add toolmaking capacity in China, Laaninen said in a telephone interview.
Perlos expects to complete due diligence by the end of the year. The deal, valued at about $45 million, should be completed by early in 2003, he said.
The Finnish molder, which increasingly is serving the pharmaceutical sector in Europe, already has a telecommunications molding and assembly facility in Guangzhou, China. With a work force of 350, the plant grew last year from around 86,000 square feet and now covers 135,000 square feet.
The Guangzhou expansion was in response to soaring demand in China: Perlos estimates 140 million people now have mobile phones in China and 38 million use the Internet.
Though Laaninen declined to give machinery details, he said the Guangzhou plant primarily is equipped with Engel presses and much of its output is aimed at the Chinese market.
