Kennametal acquires Sintec Group

Kennametal announced yesterday that it has signed an agreement to purchase Germany’s Sintec Group, a manufacturer of ceramic engineered components.

The transaction is expected to close by June 30, 2006, and remains subject to customary regulatory approval and negotiated conditions of closing.

The Sintec Group was founded in 1980 and has operations in Schongau and Halblech-Buching, Germany; Biel, Switzerland; Shanghai, China; Newport, UK and in Bridgeport, Connecticut in the United States. The company employs about 200 people across its facilities.

"The acquisition of the Sintec Group is directly in line with our strategy to grow both organically and through acquisitions in the advanced materials and engineered components space," commented James Breisinger, Kennametal Vice President and President of Advanced Components Group.

"Kennametal has a core competency in ceramics systems in the metal cutting industry, where we are one of the market leaders. This acquisition will take the company into adjacent technological and geographic markets, allowing us to expand our competency in non-metal cutting ceramics," added Breisinger.