Derby law firm Freeth Cartwright, acting on behalf of Mors
Smitt, has recently completed a deal for the purchase of the relays
and train protection warning systems business of STS Rail Limited,
a subsidiary of Key Technologies plc, in a deal worth £2.4m.
Mors Smitt is a France-based railway technologies company which
manufactures signalling relays, rolling stock and a number of other
industrial products throughout Europe and the Far East. STS Rail
manufactures signalling relays to BR930 specification. This
specification is used extensively throughout Commonwealth
countries. The acquisition of STS Rail will give Mors Smitt the
opportunity to sell signalling relays built to BR930 specification
in fast growing countries such as India, Malaysia, Thailand,
Australia and South Africa.
The business will trade as Mors Smitt UK and will remain on the
Cradley Heath site, which is shared with Key Technologies'
headquarters.
Mike Copestake, senior partner at Freeth Cartwright said: "Over
the past few years we have done several deals in the railway
components manufacturing sector. We see Rail very much as a
growth area and it was a privilege to represent a firm such as Mors
Smitt which has very clear global ambitions. Its acquisition
of the relays and train protection warning systems business of STS
Rail gives the company huge new opportunities which we are sure it
will exploit to the full".
Nico Enthoven, the Chief Financial Officer of Mors Smitt said:
"This was a strategically important acquisition for us. The
purchase of the relays and train protection warning systems of STS
Rail gives us new and important opportunities not only in the UK
but also in the fast developing markets of countries such as India,
Malaysia, Thailand, Australia and South Africa. Mike
Copestake and his team at Freeth Cartwright helped us to deliver
this deal to a tight timescale and within budget".
Roy Farmer and Chris Beardsley of the Derby office of Dains,
Chartered Accountants, supplied the financial due diligence for the
deal which was brokered in Paris by Eric Rocheteau of Antares
International Partners Inc.