CERATIZIT, a manufacturer of specialized cutting tools, indexable inserts and carbide rods, has signed an agreement for its wholly-owned subsidiary, CERATIZIT USA, to acquire a majority stake in Best Carbide Cutting Tools, LLC.
CERATIZIT S.A., Mamer, is headquartered in Luxembourg while Best Carbide is a manufacturer of solid carbide round cutting tools located in Rancho Dominguez, CA. The company is housed in a 46,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility and currently has about 90 employees.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
In a statement, CERATIZIT Executive Board co-chairman Jacques Lanners said "Best Carbide Cutting Tools gives CERATIZIT an exceptional chance to strengthen our network in the USA and build on nationwide top distributors. Best Carbide is known for the quality of its tools, with a strong focus on high-end micro tools."
Mark Nunez, President of Best Carbide, said the agreement will allow his company to have access to CERATIZIT technologies and expertise helping the company "to improve its manufacturing process, technical capabilities and quality of tooling — with the goal of ultimately adding greater value for our customers.”
For over 95 years, CERATIZIT has developed hard material products for cutting tools and wear protection. The privately-owned company develops and manufactures highly-specialized tungsten carbide cutting tools, inserts, rods and wear parts. The CERATIZIT Group markets in several wear part application areas and develops new types of hard metal, cermet and ceramic grades used for instance in the wood and stone working industry.
The move comes two weeks after the CERATIZIT Group acquired the German diamond tool manufacturer company Becker Diamantwerkzeuge. Becker produces extremely wear resistant tools for the automotive, mechanical engineering, medical technology and aerospace industries.
