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Into the New Millennium - Part 2 |
Four days later another major
purchase was announced. Avon Technical products acquired Hi-Life
Rubber L.L.C., based in Wisconsin, USA, for £22m. This
highly successful company was already a major manufacturer
and distributor of rubber dairy liners and related products
to the North American dairy industry. This move, when combined
with existing dairy business in the UK, now positions Avon
as a leading manufacturer of rubber dairy liners in the world. |
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Avon Hi-Life, Wisconsin, USA |
In
September 1998, the Nylaflow Hose division in Pennsylvania
was purchased from DSM Engineering Plastic Products. Nylaflow
produced a reinforced plastic hose for use in automotive and
industrial markets. Production was moved in the following
year to the North American Technical Products in Cadillac.
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The fire at Albion destroyed
the entire factory, but less than 3 weeks production was
lost
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In April 1999, the
Automotive division's Albion plant in North America caught
fire. Within hours, the timber section of the 80,000 sq ft
Gasket manufacturing facility had been razed to the ground.
The unit is vital to the automotive industry in North America
and failure to supply was not an option. Therefore, production
was moved to other US plants and a single press was reconstructed
from memory and replicated. 16 days later, most of the 27
presses had been rebuilt and by the following Monday it was "business as usual" and the potentially devastating
crisis had been averted.
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In July 1999, Avon
announced the purchase of two Spanish companies, Industrial
Flexo S.A. and Proflex S.A for £17m. The purpose of
the acquisition was to consolidate Avon's position as a leading
supplier of low-pressure hoses to the European Automotive
market. Coolant hose production was already increasing in
Portugal and the Czech Republic, providing new customers,
new technologies, and a strong European management team.
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The Technical Products division,
in line with the strategy of concentrating on core businesses,
sold the UK flexible fabrications business to Checkmate UK
Ltd in September 1999 for a consideration of £700,000.
A month later, CQC PLC was sold to a new company, Crossco
(430) Ltd, which had been formed by three existing Directors
of the company. Based in Devon, this profitable company manufactures
a wide range of advanced textile based clothing and personal
protection equipment for armed forces. |
The impressive new mixing
facility at Westbury, UK |
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