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Engineering 1997
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The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
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Siebe is looking to sell APV's tank and ice cream freezer division, which has annual sales of £31m. 19-Dec-1997 Eurotherm, the industrial controls company, is looking to invest up to £100m on acquisitions in south-east Asia and the US. 18-Dec-1997 Kenwood Appliances is to stop die casting and metal stamping at its Havant site as part of a restructuring plan to return it to profit. 17-Dec-1997 Meggitt has acquired Elastomeric Silicone Products, the US supplier of polymer-based seals for aircraft which has net assets of £1.3m. 15-Dec-1997 Triplex Lloyd, the castings company, is in takeover talks with an unnamed company thought to be Doncasters, the Midlands engineer. 12-Dec-1997 Firth Rixson is in discussions to acquire Barworth Flockon, the Sheffield-based forgemaster, and is also negotiating a joint venture to provide a transmission parts site for ZF in Hungary. 11-Dec-1997 Victrex is planning to increase the capacity at its UK thermoplastics plant to 2,000 tonnes a year, and also wants to build a further plant. 10-Dec-1997 Carclo Engineering is considering plans to sell Lee Steel Strip, its precision engineering business, in order to focus on technical plastics and specialist wire activities. 09-Dec-1997 Gooch & Housego, the precision optical components company, is to use £1m of the money raised from its Aim flotation on setting up a new factory in the US. 06-Dec-1997 Triplex Lloyd has acquired a 75% stake in PED Manufacturing, the US maker of castings for the medical prostheses market, for £4.3m. 06-Dec-1997 Hyder is raising $500m in a debt issue in the US, to help finance its Welsh water infrastructure programme up to the year 2000. 06-Dec-1997 Hanson is in advanced negotiations for the sale of its Grove Worldwide cranes business, which is thought to be worth about £360m. 05-Dec-1997 GEC Alsthom is to be floated in Paris, New York and London early next year, with GEC and Alcatel each retaining 24% and the new business being renamed Alsthom. 05-Dec-1997 Williams has received a number of approaches for its home improvements business, which includes Nu-Tone door chimes and cooker hoods, paints, Polyfilla and Cuprinol varnish. 04-Dec-1997 Siebe may step up its expansion plans in the Far East due to falling currencies in the region, possibly through acquisition or by switching manufacturing to plants in Malaysia, China and Japan. 03-Dec-1997 Bodycote International is to raise £101m in a rights issue, some of which will be used to finance its acquisition of HIT, the French metallurgical coatings business, and the remainder may finance future acquisitions. 03-Dec-1997 Berisford, the kitchens and cooking equipment group, is planning to expand into Asia and Latin America by acquiring production plants. 28-Nov-1997 Hall Engineering is acquiring BHP's stake in BRC Weldmesh, the Singapore-based concrete mesh manufacturer, for £29m as part of a strategy to focus its south-east Asian business on construction reinforcement. 28-Nov-1997 Syltone is to acquire the Perolo petrochemical equipment manufacturing operations in France for £12m. 28-Nov-1997 Rolls-Royce is to transfer the head office of its industrial power division from Newcastle to Derby, following the sale of the Parsons business in April. 28-Nov-1997 Wagon, the engineering company, has announced a restructuring plan that will move it away from direct sales in its continental European business and harmonise manufacturing activities across Europe. 26-Nov-1997 BBA has acquired a 15% stake in AQF Technologies, the US business formed by Hoechst's air quality filtration division, for £4.1m. 25-Nov-1997 British Aerospace has won a £41m contract to supply key wing parts for the next generation of Boeing 737 aircraft. 25-Nov-1997 British Aerospace is in discussions to set up an alliance with Finmeccanica of Italy that would result in greater co-operation between the two countries, as consolidation in European aerospace and defence continues. 19-Nov-1997 600 Group is planning to spend about £20m on the acquisition of companies that make machine tools complementary to its own product range. 18-Nov-1997 Gooch & Housego, the precision optical components maker, is to raise £6m through a flotation on Aim next month, with £2m being used to fund domestic and overseas expansion. 17-Nov-1997 Cookson is selling the swimming pools products distribution operation of its Pacific Industries subsidiary to SCP Pool Corporation for £12m. 15-Nov-1997 BBA has acquired Bidim, the Brazilian maker of non-woven materials for construction, for £24m. 14-Nov-1997 Menvier-Swain, the emergency lighting company, is to be sold to Cooper Industries of the US for £164m. 14-Nov-1997 South West Water has acquired a 50% stake in Enviro-Logic, the consultancy that helps consumers reduce their water bills, in order to improve its competitiveness in areas served by rival companies. 14-Nov-1997 Molins, the manufacturer of cigarette-making machines, is to cut 500 jobs, mainly at its High Wycombe plant, in a restructuring that will save £16m a year. 14-Nov-1997 Rolls-Royce has won a £200m government grant to help fund the extension of the family of Trent aero engines, which should help to secure 16,000 jobs. 14-Nov-1997 Mayflower has called off its attempt to bid for Vickers due to an apparent threat from BMW to cancel a Rolls-Royce engine supply contract if ownership of Rolls-Royce changed hands. 12-Nov-1997 Samsung Heavy Industries is closing its hydraulic excavator plant near Harrogate due to lack of competitiveness, with the loss of 86 jobs. 12-Nov-1997 Renold has said it is looking to spend up to £50m on the acquisition of specialist chain manufacturers and family-owned power transmission businesses. 11-Nov-1997 Williams has acquired Resmat Parsch, the Brazilian fire protection products company, for £7.6m. 07-Nov-1997 Bodycote has acquired Hooven Metal Treating, the US heat treatment company that serves the aerospace sector, for £7.8m. 04-Nov-1997 Vickers is said to be considering the acquisition of GKN's armoured vehicles division, and is thought to be keen to complete a deal before the award of two large defence contracts. 03-Nov-1997 Orbis is acquiring the integrated security systems division of Westinghouse Electric for up to £2.4m, and Bar-it, the provider of property protection systems, for up to £2.1m. 01-Nov-1997 Mackie International has acquired Rice & Co, the Northampton-based foundry, and production will be transferred to its Springvale foundry. 25-Oct-1997 BBA, the engineering company, is preparing to invest about £100m in its first move into Latin America, with negotiations having started on acquisitions and joint ventures in friction materials, non-woven textiles and aviation. 25-Oct-1997 Scapa is to combine its paper machine clothing divisions in Europe and North America into one UK-based organisation in order to maximise opportunities in the global market. 23-Oct-1997 Halma is to close three underperforming businesses - Medical Imaging Systems, Marathon Monitors, and an analysis company operating in the gas industry. 21-Oct-1997 INA of Germany is planning a 30% increase in production at its roller bearings plant in Llanelli, south Wales, creating 100 jobs. 20-Oct-1997 BTR is said to be close to selling its polymer products business, with Legal & General Ventures thought to be one of the front-runners, and it is also looking to sell its packaging and building products division in order to focus on automotive, control systems, specialist engineering and power drives. 20-Oct-1997 BTP has acquired Can Sling, the Canadian supplier of lifting slings, for £1.1m. 18-Oct-1997 Federal-Mogul of the US has agreed terms for the £1.5bn acquisition of T&N, the UK engineering company, which will give it 90% of the US engine bearings market. 17-Oct-1997 Widney, the lossmaking engineering group, is in talks which could lead to a takeover offer being made for the company. 17-Oct-1997 Matra BAe Dynamics, the joint venture of British Aerospace and Lagardere, has acquired a 30% stake in LFK, the guided weapons subsidiary of Daimler-Benz Aerospace, and the three companies are planning a joint strategy on future missile programmes. 11-Oct-1997 Triplex Lloyd has confirmed that it has been holding takeover talks, but they have so far come to nothing. 09-Oct-1997 Alcan is to invest £8.3m creating a cast iron rodding plant at its Lynemouth aluminium smelter. 08-Oct-1997 Roxspur has sold its Modex Automation business to Frank W Murphy of Tulsa for £1m. 08-Oct-1997 Andrews Sykes is considering plans to spend up to £100m on acquisitions over the next three years, possibly in areas other than its existing air conditioning, pumping and heating businesses. 07-Oct-1997 Doeflex is to close three plastics factories following last year's acquisition of Perrite Plastics. 07-Oct-1997 Staveley Industries is to combine all six of its facilities services businesses under one trading name, Integral, in order to simplify the structure and boost profits through expansion. 06-Oct-1997 Umeco is acquiring Med-Lab International, the distributor of materials to the aerospace and petroleum industries, for £1.1m. 06-Oct-1997 Bodycote International is planning to acquire HIT, the French heat treatment and metal coatings company, for £63m. 02-Oct-1997 Siebe has announced that its Foxboro control systems business has been appointed the preferred supplier for Dow Chemical's plant automation systems. 30-Sep-1997 Ascot Holdings is planning to focus on specialist engineering and chemicals, and is looking for acquisitions in the European refrigeration sector. 30-Sep-1997 Short Brothers has won a £19.5m government grant to support an expansion of its aircraft parts business, creating 308 jobs in Belfast. 24-Sep-1997 Wassall is looking to spend over £300m on the acquisition of an underperforming manufacturing company, having raised £462m from the flotation of its General Cable business. 18-Sep-1997 Britax International is planning to spend up to £40m acquiring companies in its core areas of aircraft interiors, car mirrors, and car seating. 17-Sep-1997 Delta is looking to sell about 40% of its businesses, including power cables and copper-based extrusions, in order to focus on electrical protection products, galvanising and electrolytic manganese and plumbing products. 17-Sep-1997 Morgan Crucible is planning to spend £40m on bolt-on acquisitions this year, and is still considering plans to sell or float its Emblem engineering division. 16-Sep-1997 Hunting is planning to sell off some aviation businesses over the next few months in order to focus on its defence and oil activities. 16-Sep-1997 Inchcape is planning to restructure its underperforming Pacific Asian businesses at a cost of £55m, but has declined to specify which divisions will be sold. 16-Sep-1997 BTR is planning to sell its packaging division, its building products division and its polymeric products division, representing 36% of group sales, in order to focus on engineering. 12-Sep-1997 Adwest is acquiring Heidemann, the German gear-shift maker, for £32m, and is selling its US electronics business, in order to focus on automotive components and systems. 12-Sep-1997 Vickers is looking to sell its medical equipment businesses, which make perinatal care, anaesthetic, and neuro-diagnostic products, raising up to £80m and allowing it to focus on Rolls-Royce cars, tanks and propulsion equipment. 12-Sep-1997 Williams is looking to sell its Nu-Tone US door chimes and vacuum cleaner business, and proceeds are likely to be used for a £150m share buy-back. 11-Sep-1997 Haden MacLellan is planning to expand its fasteners business through acquisition, and is actively looking to sell its specialist engineering business. 11-Sep-1997 Charter has made a £25m provision to rationalise its recently-acquired Howden industrial fans business, and plants will be closed in North America, Europe and Asia. 10-Sep-1997 BBA will announce soon whether it will sell its electrical engineering businesses, including Haefely Trench and Ajax, because of concerns over whether they can grow at a sufficient rate. 10-Sep-1997 Rentokil Initial has acquired a number of textile services operations in France from Generale des Eaux for $107m. 10-Sep-1997 ERAtech, which converts chemical waste into energy for the manufacture of cement, is planning a London listing in order to raise up to £8m. 09-Sep-1997 Thomson Industries of the US is said to be planning the expansion of its linear bearings factory in Barnstaple. 08-Sep-1997 Lindon Engineering International has been created by a management team to buy-out the Cummins diesel engine plant in Lanarkshire, saving 70 jobs. 03-Sep-1997 T&N is to propose the merger of its pistons business with that of Pierburg Kolbenschmidt, a company being created from the merger of the automotive interests of Rheinmetall and Kolbenschmidt of Germany. 29-Aug-1997 Wassall has sold its remaining 19.5% stake in General Cable Corp of the US, raising a further £80m to be spent on acquisitions. 21-Aug-1997 Severfield-Reeve is considering options to dispose of Manabo, its food hygiene business which makes cleaning and disinfecting machines, following an increase in losses. 19-Aug-1997 Glynwed International is acquiring Industrial Plastics Technology, the US distributor of pipes and fittings in the eastern states, for £14.5m. 15-Aug-1997 Smiths Industries has increased its stake in its Japanese medical systems distribution business to 62%. 14-Aug-1997 Glynwed International is looking to buy a US manufacturing base for its catering equipment operation, and increase the markets served by its pipe systems operation, as part of a plan to change the focus of the engineering group. 13-Aug-1997 Vickers has sold most of Jered Brown Brothers, its US subsidiary that makes naval and commercial systems, to a management team for £8.7m. 09-Aug-1997 GKN is planning to invest up to £250m in the expansion of its aerospace and agricultural machinery operations in emerging markets, and it also hopes to benefit from any consolidation in the European defence industry. 07-Aug-1997 Folkes has sold its Hydraroll cargo handling equipment business to management for an initial £3.8m, and will use the proceeds to reduce borrowings. 05-Aug-1997 Charles Baynes has acquired Mooney Process Equipment of Detroit, the valve distributor, for £1.8m. 05-Aug-1997 Rubicon, the specialist engineer, has announced the completion of its £2.5m reorganisation programme which has resulted in lower overheads and higher capacity. 31-Jul-1997 Richards Group has received an offer for its Richards Engineering subsidiary and is likely to seek a delisting following the suspension of its shares in October. 29-Jul-1997 Ascot Holdings has sold its South African subsidiary Refrigeration Investment to Danfoss of Denmark for £16.7m. 23-Jul-1997 Concentric has acquired Weed Instrument Company, the US maker of temperature measuring instruments, for £4.5m. 17-Jul-1997 Siebe has been appointed preferred supplier of plant automation solutions to both Shell International and Owens Corning. 14-Jul-1997 GEC is setting up three defence joint ventures with Finmeccanica of Italy, covering missiles, naval systems, armoured vehicles, radar, avionics, and guns. 11-Jul-1997 GEC is planning a major restructuring in order to focus on three core businesses - defence and aerospace, telecommunications and industrial electronics - and it is also proposing a £4bn stockmarket flotation for GEC Alsthom. 09-Jul-1997 Williams has acquired Sectron, the security monitoring business, from Southern Water for £1.8m. 08-Jul-1997 TI is to create seven separate units from its three operating divisions, including mechanical seals for process plants, marine equipment, polymer-based sealing systems, landing gear, general aerospace systems, fluid equipment for cars, and fluid equipment for refrigerators. 07-Jul-1997 Bodycote International has bought two materials testing laboratories in the US - Industrial Testing Laboratories of St Louis for £1m and Metal Analysis of Los Angeles. 04-Jul-1997 FKI is in discussions to acquire Bridon, the wire and rope maker thought to be worth about £100m. 01-Jul-1997 Ernest Green & Partners, the engineering consultancy, is to merge with White Young Consulting Group, creating a new group called White Young Green. 25-Jun-1997 Hopkinsons, the abrasives company, has changed its name to Carbo. 24-Jun-1997 GEC Alsthom, the joint venture between GEC and Alcatel Alsthom, is decentralising its management away from its Paris head office, and appointing 40 country managers. 23-Jun-1997 British Aerospace is linking up with Lockheed Martin of the US in a £61bn programme to develop the next generation of light fighter aircraft. 19-Jun-1997 Firth Rixson is looking to acquire suppliers of specialist aerospace components in Europe and the US. 18-Jun-1997 Sheffield Forgemasters is to split into two divisions in preparation for the flotation of the aerospace business, while the general engineering business will remain privately owned for the time being. 18-Jun-1997 British Steel has confirmed plans to cut 2,000 jobs in response to the effects of the strong pound, and has also announced that it will take a majority stake in an Indonesian steel mill in a joint venture with PT Bakrie. 17-Jun-1997 Senior Engineering is acquiring Bosman Powersource Support, the maker of high-tech hot engine components, from Zimmerman for £1.9m. 17-Jun-1997 Roxspur has acquired Nulectrohms, the supplier of temperature sensing equipment to industry, from Tomkins for £950,000. 17-Jun-1997 Clyde Blowers is acquiring Copes-Vulcan's soot-blowing business in the US for £7m. 14-Jun-1997 Babcock International is planning to sell its process engineering division, shut its dust recycling plant in the US, and pull out of Africa, in order to focus on facilities management and materials handling. 11-Jun-1997 Aqua-Gas AVK has acquired the valves business of Bryan Donkin Engineering from Hopkinsons Group for £2.6m. 06-Jun-1997 Bridon is acquiring the stainless steel wire business of Critchley, Sharp & Tetlow from Carclo Engineering for £1.5m. 06-Jun-1997 Wagon Industrial is in discussions with a number of companies that are interested in buying its retail systems division, as the business does not fit in with its other engineering divisions. 04-Jun-1997 Powell Duffryn is selling its Lemont, Chicago, terminal to IMTT for £5m, and its half share in Corrall-Montenay, the supplier of energy management services, for £9.6m. 03-Jun-1997 British Aerospace is to stop making the Jetstream 41 aircraft at its Prestwick factory with the loss of about 400 jobs, but will try to relocate other aircraft manufacturing work to the site. 30-May-1997 Clyde Blowers is discussing the acquisition of an unnamed US company for about £7m, which would give it a 53% share of the world market for removing soot from boilers. 30-May-1997 BTR Power Drives has bought ECM Motor Company, the Wisconsin-based gear motor maker, for undisclosed terms. 28-May-1997 Machine tool exports were up 20.3% in the first quarter of this year compared to last year, despite the strong pound, according to the Office for National Statistics. 16-May-1997 LucasVarity's Perkins subsidiary is setting up a joint venture with Tianjin Engine Works to make diesel engines for trucks, buses and generating equipment in China. 15-May-1997 Simon Engineering is planning to change its name to Simon Group. 14-May-1997 Fenner has acquired Magpie Engineering & Bearings from Boustead Industries for £2.2m. 13-May-1997 PC Cox (Newbury), the maker of sealant applicators, has been acquired by management for £20m from BBA Group. 13-May-1997 Cummins Engine of the US is planning a £17m factory near Ramsgate in Kent to make power generating sets, providing 300 jobs. 08-May-1997 Unicorn International, the abrasives producer, is acquiring EH Stock (Engineering), the tool distributor, for £2.5m. 07-May-1997 TGE, the engineering group formed from a management buy-out from Meggitt, is considering a flotation on the London Stock Exchange. 06-May-1997 Kvaerner Energy is to cut 137 jobs at its thermal power division at Clydebank due to overcapacity in the gas turbine market. 01-May-1997 David Brown has identified a shortlist of potential acquisitions intended to provide a major expansion in its North American engineering business. 01-May-1997 British Steel is to cut 400 jobs at its tinplate business in South Wales in response to overcapacity in the European market. 30-Apr-1997 APV, the process equipment manufacturer, has received a bid approach from an unnamed company, and analysts suggest that the bidder could be Sasib of Italy, Tomkins of the UK, or GEA of Germany. 30-Apr-1997 Cirqual is acquiring Thomas C Wild Forgings, the metal forgings company, and RFI Shielding, the electronic shielding equipment company, for an initial £14.7m. 22-Apr-1997 Staveley Industries is looking to sell its measurement business in order to focus on building maintenance services. 22-Apr-1997 Howden is acquiring Talleres Sanchez Luengo, the Spanish maker of air pre-heaters used to recover waste heat in power stations, for £9m. 18-Apr-1997 Diploma has acquired an 80% stake in Carbon & Alloy Metals, the US steel stockholder, for £3.4m. 12-Apr-1997 Smiths Industries is in discussions with Sextant Avionique of France to collaborate in the manufacture of aerospace components in a challenge to US companies such as Honeywell. 10-Apr-1997 Rolls-Royce has announced a joint venture with Lyulka-Saturn in Russia to transform military jet engines into industrial gas turbines. 09-Apr-1997 Triplex Lloyd is acquiring Feingusswerk Bochum, the German maker of cast blades for turbine engines, from Thyssen for £6.2m. 02-Apr-1997 Estil (Luton) is acquiring Stadco Automation from Hall Engineering for £8.4m. 02-Apr-1997 Boustead is acquiring Sunlink Group, an engineering company, from Diamond Ace of Hong Kong for about £9.6m. 02-Apr-1997 Rolls-Royce is in discussions with Snecma of France about co-operating on the development of a new engine for the proposed A340-600 aircraft. 26-Mar-1997 Benson Group, the environmental control products concern, is planning to acquire Combat Engineering of the West Midlands for £4.2m. 26-Mar-1997 BTR has sold its HDA Forgings business to management for undisclosed terms. 26-Mar-1997 TransTec, the engineering group, is looking to spend up to £200m acquiring a manufacturing company in order to reduce its reliance on the automotive market. 25-Mar-1997 APV, the process equipment maker, has warned that it will have to make several hundred job cuts in response to market conditions. 21-Mar-1997 GKN has acquired a 39% stake in Agrindustrial Holding, the Dutch agricultural equipment group, for £17.3m. 20-Mar-1997 GEC and Alcatel Alsthom of France are reviewing the future of GEC Alsthom, their power engineering joint venture, and may even consider breaking up the business. 19-Mar-1997 Hall Engineering is looking into an expansion of its construction products business in east Asia, by adding more factories to make steel reinforcements in Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Indonesia. 19-Mar-1997 Delta is planning a reorganisation which will see it pull out of low-growth manufacturing in order to focus on cable and circuit protection operations. 19-Mar-1997 TI Group is to split the roles of chairman and chief executive, thus following the lead of the other big engineering companies. 13-Mar-1997 BBA Group has acquired Korma, the Italian materials company, for £12m, and is setting up a friction materials joint venture in China. 12-Mar-1997 Wassall is planning to float 70% of General Cable Corporation, its US subsidiary, with £150m of the proceeds being returned to shareholders. 11-Mar-1997 Spirax-Sarco Engineering is acquiring an associated company of its Spanish business, Mas Nieto, for £2.6m, to continue the growth of its European business. 11-Mar-1997 Siebe is acquiring Predictive Control, the industrial controls software concern, for £3m. 07-Mar-1997 Eurotherm has acquired LFE Industrial Systems, the US controls manufacturer, for £7.6m. 07-Mar-1997 James Howden has acquired the goodwill and certain assets of Bryan Donkin Engineering from Hopkinsons for £1.4m. 06-Mar-1997 BICC is planning a £200m expansion in its data cables business, having completed a rationalisation programme which saw it withdraw from the commodity cables business. 06-Mar-1997 BTR is forming a joint venture with Danfoss of Denmark in order to expand their share of the global industrial motors market. 05-Mar-1997 Powerscreen International is acquiring Doggett Engineering Group, the Irish maker of fittings for the materials handling industry, for £6.6m. 05-Mar-1997 Whessoe, the instruments and controls maker, has received a surprise £53m takeover bid from an alliance between Navia of Norway and Endress & Hauser of Switzerland, which tops the recent offer from Siebe. 27-Feb-1997 GEC and British Aerospace have failed to reach agreement over a possible merger following disagreements over business prospects and the valuation of assets. 24-Feb-1997 T&N's attempt to acquire a strategic stake in Kolbenschmidt, the German pistons company, is facing resistance from a number of German competitors who are warning the supreme court that a full takeover could follow. 24-Feb-1997 IMI is closing two Yorkshire Alloys factories with the loss of up to 670 jobs due to falling demand for copper alloy tubing. 21-Feb-1997 Short Brothers has announced an expansion of its CRJ Series 700 project and a new de Havilland Dash 8-400 turboprop airliner project, which will create 1,000 jobs. 20-Feb-1997 Druck Holdings has bought Pressurements, the maker of deadweight pressure testers, for £4m. 18-Feb-1997 Wassall has bought a 4.1% stake in TLG for about £7m, a move which could lead to a full takeover bid. 04-Feb-1997 Rolls-Royce has admitted that it will have to modify some of its RB211 aircraft engines due to reports of turbine blade failure. 28-Jan-1997 Wyko Group, the engineering company, is looking to make a number of small acquisitions in order to use spare capacity at its new central distribution warehouse. 28-Jan-1997 Ipeco Holdings is to close its aircraft galley equipment division in Lancashire due to ongoing losses. 28-Jan-1997 LucasVarity expects to shortly announce the sale of its US geared systems division, with Rolls-Royce thought to be one of the interested companies. 24-Jan-1997 Short Brothers has won a major contract to supply airframe parts to Bombardier, its Canadian parent, which will create 600 jobs. 23-Jan-1997 General Electric Company is being restructured into five divisions, comprising: the main US operations, an industrial group, GEC Marconi, GEC Alsthom and GPT. 23-Jan-1997 Hall Engineering is to set up a pressings plant in Swindon and a new wire factory near Halifax, funded by a £26m rights issue. 22-Jan-1997 British Aerospace Airbus is to set up a £25m centre for machining aircraft wings at its Broughton plant near Wrexham, creating about 100 jobs. 21-Jan-1997 GKN is looking to acquire an aircraft components business in the US and also wants to set up helicopter joint ventures in Asia. 18-Jan-1997 Siemens has offered to acquire Newcastle-based Parsons Power Generation Systems, which has been put up for sale by Rolls-Royce. 18-Jan-1997 Delta is to close its north London wire mill and reorganise its activities in the Midlands and south Wales, with the loss of 90 jobs. 17-Jan-1997 APV, the maker of food processing equipment, has announced a reorganisation in which it will split its sales and engineering division, with specialist manufacturing being merged into an enlarged engineering division. 15-Jan-1997 GKN Birfield has acquired an 80% stake in Italcardano Universal Giunti, the Italian maker of propeller shafts, for undisclosed terms. 09-Jan-1997 Cookson Group has completed the purchase of GRP, the US maker of refractory materials for the glass industry, for £31m. 09-Jan-1997 Rolls-Royce has announced that Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan is taking an initial 6% stake in its Trent 900 project, which aims to supply engines for the new super-jumbo aircraft. 08-Jan-1997 Sheffield Forgemasters is considering a future flotation, worth up to £80m, and may obtain a listing through a reverse takeover of an unnamed UK supplier of steel castings and ingots. 06-Jan-1997 Rotork has sold the Rotork Analysis gas business to Signal Instrument for £64,000 and the refinery business to Sysco Analytics for £75,000. 06-Jan-1997 The information below comes from the UK Activity Report. 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