Acquisition of TK Industries GmbH

 
  Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd. (Head office: Tokyo, Japan; President: Hitoshi Ochi, hereinafter “MRC”) announce that all procedures required for the purchase of TK Industries GmbH, who develop and manufacture carbon fiber based multi-axial non-crimp fabric (“NCF”) in Germany, were completed on October 31. MRC are to expand their carbon fiber intermediate materials business in Europe with the acquisition, 100% of the equity stake in TK Industries GmbH will be held by MRC.
 
 TK Industries GmbH, which was established in 2008, has developed carbon fiber NCF specifically tailored for developmental projects and has established a very good reputation through automotive and industrial projects. MRC and TK Industries GmbH have jointly worked to develop NCF utilizing large tow carbon fibers supplied from MRC’s new factory (2,700 metric tons per year) which started production in 2011 July.
 
 In the European market (especially in Germany), increased usage of CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic) is expected in automotive parts as new projects are introduced such as the “BMW i3” electric vehicle which uses CFRP in its structural parts and will be released in 2013.
 
 RTM (Resin Transfer Molding) technology, which is suitable for mid-scale volume production of composites parts and uses mainly NCF, is expected to be one of the main technologies for automotive applications.  In addition to automotive, RTM technology, which is also suitable for large-scale molding, is expected to be applied in many projects in renewable energy industries, such as highly efficient wind blades to be switched from existing conventional glass fiber blades and larger off-shore wind blades to be installed in the North Sea.
 
 MRC has developed premium large tow carbon fibers and PCM (Prepreg Compression Molding) technology enabling the fast cycle times and quality composite parts manufacturing required for automotive and industrial applications.
 
 The inclusion of TK industries GmbH into MRC Group will enable us to promote the development of new materials and molding technology to be proposed to OEM car manufacturers and assist the expansion of MRC’s carbon fiber and composites business in Europe.
 
 
[Basic information on TK Industries GmbH]
1.     Company name : TK Industries GmbH
2.     Company Address : Naila, Bayern, Germany
3.     Foundation : 2008
4.     Main business : Carbon fiber non-crimp multi-axial fabric manufacturer