Wescast Industries Inc. has cancelled the plannd sale of its Brantford, ON, foundry to Gemini Fire Protection Solutions Inc., explaining that “Gemini has been unable to resolve certain aspects of the agreement necessary to complete the transaction.” In August Gemini agreed to buy the land, buildings, and the majority of the production assets of Brantford operation for an estimated $21.7 million. Gemini is a Canadian manufacturer of commercial and industrial fire-protection products.

"It is unfortunate that we are unable to move forward with the sale to Gemini at this time,” stated Wescast chairman and CEO Ed Frackowiak. “However, our discussions with Gemini are ongoing and we remain hopeful that these discussions will result in a successful agreement within the next few months. In the meantime, we will continue to implement our North American optimization plan in an effort to better align our global capacity, if an agreement with Gemini is not concluded." Since announcing in February it would discontinue the Brantford operation, Wescast has been reducing production and workforce levels there. The company states it will to operate the foundry to meet remaining customer requirements, but that production will likely end there in the first half of 2006. “The exact timing is dependent on customer demand requirements,” Wescast stated.