Originally Published MDDI March 2006OUTSOURCING NEWS  Cookson Group Plc, a materials science company, has sold Specialty Coatings Systems (SCS; Indianapolis) for $55.5 million. SCS forms part of the Assembly Materials sector of Cookson’s electronics division, located in Jersey City, NJ. With the sale of SCS, London-based Cookson Group continues its strategy of reducing debt through noncore business disposals.

March 1, 2006

1 Min Read
Cookson Sells Coatings Company

OUTSOURCING NEWS

Cookson Group Plc, a materials science company, has sold Specialty Coatings Systems (SCS; Indianapolis) for $55.5 million. SCS forms part of the Assembly Materials sector of Cookson's electronics division, located in Jersey City, NJ. With the sale of SCS, London-based Cookson Group continues its strategy of reducing debt through noncore business disposals.

SCS comprises a group of companies and business assets throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Its primary business is the application of parylene, a conformal coating, to medical devices including surgical hardware, catheters, endoscopic surgical devices, and implanted pacemakers and defibrillators. David Zerfoss, president of Cookson Assembly Materials Group, says the sale is part of the electronics division's effort to increase focus on its core technology. “SCS is an excellent business with both strong financial and product technology foundations,” he noted. “However, its future growth is not strategically aligned with Assembly Materials Group's markets.”

In January 2005, Cookson announced its target of £100 million (approximately $178 million) from business disposals. With the sale of SCS, along with the sale of Cookson's laminates business for $91 million, Cookson has reached its target.

Nick Salmon, CEO of Cookson Group, echoed Zerfoss's sentiments in a statement: “SCS is a good quality business, as reflected by the price achieved. However, it does not fit with our core electronics business, and the sale represents further significant progress in terms of our strategy of progressive debt reduction.”

Cookson Group provides materials, processes, and services to customers worldwide. The group's operations are formed into three divisions: electronics, ceramics, and precious metals. Cookson Electronics' Assembly Materials sector supplies materials to assemblers of printed circuit boards, primarily to the semiconductor packaging industry. However, it also includes SCS's parylene coating business.

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