John Wolz
QEF Global will acquire Just Fasteners of Glasgow, Scotland, CEO Mike Nolan announced.
Nolan said an agreement had been reached between QEF and it”s major supply partner, Southco plc, to acquire Just Fasteners.
QEF Global, has offices in Ireland, U.K., Hungary, U.S.A., and Asia, and provides supply chain optimisation programmes to the OEM sector. Just Fasteners will relocate to QEF Global’s UK facility in Coatbridge, Scotland.
“This acquisition will further advance QEF Global”s expansion strategy, and bring tangible benefits to existing and future customers of both companies.,” Nolan explained.
QEF has been trading for 16 years. The recent opening of offices in China and Hungary reflects the migration of UK and Ireland OEM and assembly businesses to Eastern Europe and Asia. ****************************************************************
Employees Buy Atlantic Fasteners
Jason Sandefur
The employees of Atlantic Fasteners Company Inc. bought the company through a trust to keep the firm in West Springfield, MA, the Republican newspaper reported. The deal was reportedly valued in the range of $5 million to $10 million. Half the funds will be raised by a bank loan to the company, while the other half will be funded by a 12-year loan from the owners, according to the Republican.
The company was majority owned by CEO Patrick O’Toole, who will stay with Atlantic Fasteners along with president Tony Peterson. Both men will serve on the company’s board of trustees.
The commercial and aerospace fastener distributor was a small company with annual sales of about $250,000 when O’Toole bought the firm in 1981. Atlantic Fasteners now has annual sales of more than $13 million.
O’Toole told reporter William Freebairn of the Republican that selling to an employee trust was attractive compared to selling out to a competitor. “The risk is, as you know, they could move you out to some other location,” O’Toole quipped. Web: atlanticfasteners.com �2005 FastenerNews.com
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