Derby firm Gardner Aerospace sold to Chinese for £326 million
By
RJohnson_dt | Posted: April 18, 2017
By Robin Johnson
A Derby aerospace firm which supplies companies including Rolls-Royce and Airbus has been sold to a Chinese group for £326 million following five months of talks.
Gardner Aerospace, which is headquartered at Victory Park, in Victory Road, has been sold to Ligeance Investments
, a subsidiary of Shaanxi Ligeance Mineral Resources (SLMR), by parent company Better Capital.
Gardner makes aerospace parts, which it supplies to both aircraft manufacturers, such as Airbus, and aircraft engine-makers including Derby's Rolls-Royce. As well as its Derby base, Gardner has sites in Basildon, Essex, Broughton in Flintshire, Hull in Yorkshire and Pershore in Worcestershire. In total, the firm employs 690 staff in the UK, including about 300 in Derby.
The firm also has sites overseas. In the rest of Europe, it has factories in France and Poland – and it also has a site in India. In total, it employs around 700 staff overseas. Investment company Better Capital first announced in November last year that it had received a cash offer and entered into exclusive discussions with SLMR.
Lizhi Wang, vice-president of SLMR, said: "The acquisition of Gardner will allow us to serve our customers better – in China and the rest of the world – for decades to come. With the management team at Gardner together with our advisers – we intend to further consolidate the global aerospace supply chain through careful strategic acquisitions."
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http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/images/localworld/ugc-images/276250/binaries/Gardner4.jpg
Gardner Aerospace supplies components to major firms including Rolls-Royce.
The deal is subject to government and regulatory approval and ompletion is expected in May or June. Better Capital acquired Gardner Aerospace in February, 2010, and the company was founded in the 1950s.
Three years ago, Gardner moved its headquarters from Ilkeston to a £10 million purpose-built site in Derby. Last month, parts of Gardner's former factory in Cotmanhay Road were destroyed in a suspected arson attack. The damage was so severe that parts of the building had to be demolished.
One reason behind Gardner's move to Derby was to be closer to one of its key customers – Rolls-Royce, which makes the Trent XWB at its Derby site. It is the engine that powers the Airbus A350 XWB.
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http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/images/localworld/ugc-images/276250/binaries/A350XWB9.jpg
Gardner supplies components for Rolls-Royce's Trent XWB engine.
SLMR is based in China and is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. It is the parent company of a group whose current main activity is mineral exploration and production, but whose interests include a growing aerospace machining and component manufacture division.
The deal comes as Derby, as a city, is looking to build trade links with China. Last year, a delegation from the city travelled to the city of Hefei, in Anhui Province, to sign a memorandum of understanding that will result in both cities working together for mutual economic benefit.
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Gardner Aerospace 2014