Fenner Acquires Prodesco

Fenner Plc — an England-based provider of engineered polymer products for markets such as mining, oil and gas, power generation, hydraulics, office automation and mechanical equipment — has acquired Perkasie, Pa.-based Prodesco Inc. — a designer and manufacturer of engineered textile structures for markets such as aerospace, industrial and medical, among others — for $47 million cash plus an additional conditional cash consideration of up to $18 million based on Prodesco’s performance over five years.

The acquisition includes Prodesco’s wholly owned subsidiary, Secant Medical LLC, a provider of engineered textile solutions for medical device applications including cardiovascular and orthopaedic. Prodesco and Secant Medical will continue to operate in their current facilities under their existing names as part of Finner’s Advanced Engineered Products (AEP) Division. The companies also will retain current personnel and management, including Prodesco President and CEO Steve Chadwick, and CFO Tom Dertouzos.

“Prodesco is a great company which builds on Fenner’s core expertise in textile engineering while exemplifying our AEP Division’s primary focus on performance-critical, polymeric components. Secant Medical is a natural extension to Fenner’s business and gives it exposure to a segment of the medical market which has attractive growth and resilience characteristics,” said Mark Abrahams, CEO, Fenner.

“Both businesses have very deep roots,” said Chadwick, noting Prodesco’s 65-year history and Fenner’s 150 years in business, “so it was important to make sure there was a good match culture-wise. We are pleased that both companies have a ‘family-like’ environment and an agile, entrepreneurial spirit, and we believe this synergy will benefit both Prodesco and Fenner over the long term.”

March/April 2008