Cookson Group plc has sold its Polyclad Laminates Inc. subsidiary, which is based in Franklin, N.H., to Isola Group sarl of Chandler, Ariz., for $91 million.
Polyclad, part of London-based Cookson's electronics division, supplies laminates, prepregs and other substrate materials used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards. The business has production units in the U.S., Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
In 2004, the laminates business recorded profit of £2.5 million ($4.4 million), but in the six months ended in June 2005, it posted a loss of £1.7 million ($3 million). Cookson reported that, since then, Polyclad has returned to a break-even state.
The disposal to Isola, which is owned by Texas Pacific Group, is part of Cookson's plan of focusing on high-technology products, exiting commodity activities and reducing debt.
``While we have recently been successful in returning the laminates business to break-even, it has for too long had a detrimental impact on the earnings profile of our electronics division,'' said Cookson Chief Executive Officer Nick Salmon.
He added that Cookson now is two-thirds of the way toward its goal of raising more than £100 million ($177 million) through disposals by the end of 2006.
Fort Worth, Texas-based Texas Pacific bought electronics materials producer Isola in 2004. Isola has operations in Europe in Germany, Italy and Scotland; in Asia in Suzhou, China, and Taoyuan Hsien, Taiwan; and in North America, where its Isola Laminate Systems Corp. subsidiary has plants in Chandler and Fremont, Calif., and Ridgeway, S.C.