CB-Ceratizit, a joint venture company of Ceratizit, which is part of the Plansee Group, has acquired 70% of all shares of Changzhou CW Toolmaker Inc, a privately owned company based in Changzhou, China, that specialises in the design, production and sales of tungsten-carbide cutting tools for the electronic industry, and a variety of industries including aviation, railway, and mould and die.
Andreas Lackner, ‘speaker’ of Ceratizit’s executive board, said the acquisition of Changzhou CW Toolmaker Inc is an important part of CB-Ceratizit’s growth strategy in Asia: “We want to strengthen our footprint in the production of solid-carbide cutting tools in China and Asia Pacific. The acquisition of Changzhou CW Toolmaker helps us to reach this goal.”
Andreas Fritz, Ceratizit’s president of the regional unit Asia Pacific, said the experience of the Chinese company also offers Ceratizit the opportunity to enter new markets: “The expansion of the Ceratizit portfolio to include machining solutions for electronic components in the 3C sector (computers, communications, and consumer electronics) is crucial for our success. By being able to draw on the high-quality production technologies and extensive manufacturing capacities of both CW and Ceratizit we offer our customers significant added value throughout the full value chain.”
Changzhou CW Toolmaker was founded in 1998 and specialises in the design, production and sales of tungsten-carbide cutting tools and has since invested in more than 160 machines for production and product inspection — mainly from well-established European brands.