CCI Eurolam to buy a majority stake in C&B

CCI Eurolam SA and Crossley & Bradley Ltd are pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached for CCI Eurolam  to buy a majority stake in C&B. The deal will allow the two companies to build on their existing activities and to use their combined resources to offer the UK Printed Circuit industry an enhanced range of products and services backed by the technical support that the industry requires.

The acquisition will secure the continuing development of C&B's business and will provide a long term guarantee for all its partners - customers, suppliers and employees. CCI Eurolam already has plans to invest in new equipment and people to ensure that C&B's unrivalled reputation for service and flexibility is maintained as the company expands. Rob Cooper, the current owner of C&B, will stay on as General Manager.

Bernard Bismuth, General Manager of CCI Eurolam, said: "We are happy and honoured that Rob and his team will be joining CCI. Our company has been able to grow and to improve over the past five years in spite of the shrinking market in Europe. We believe strongly that there is still a future for the European PCB industry and that this future will require flexibility, high tech products and good technical support all along the supply chain. Our goal is to build, with C&B, an appropriate structure in the UK like those we already have in France and Germany. By taking a pan-European approach we can have the inventory, the range of products, the logistics and the technical support and be the right size to serve all the European market in the best possible way."

Rob Cooper said: "I believe that the deal with CCI allows C&B to carry forward the tradition of service that it has built up over 36 years. In CCI we have a partner who shares our values, and together with CCI we can offer our customers and employees a more secure future than we could on our own."

CCI Eurolam currently employs 65 people in France, Germany and the UK; its projected turnover for 2006 is 21M€. Crossley & Bradley employs 19 people and has a turnover of 5M€.