May 16, 2007 — The Doncasters Group reports it has completed a roughly $492-million acquisition of FastenTech Inc., a Minneapolis-based manufacturer of fasteners and precision components. The seller is Citigroup Venture Capital, and Doncasters says the purchase gives its organization a "leading worldwide position in the turbine 'hot zone', giving Doncasters end-to-end expertise in turbines."

FastenTech supplies "tolerance critical" precision engineering components for industrial gas turbine and aerospace manufacturing.

Doncasters Group operations produce performance- and tolerance-critical engineering components in difficult-to-form alloys and metals, with processes that range from precision casting and forging to fabrication, machining, and superalloy production. Its products include airfoils, structures, casings, rings, exhausts, combustion components for gas-turbine applications; aerostructures; and components for airframe applications. It also produces a wide range of orthopedic structures and implants.

The group's customers include GE Power Systems, Siemens, Rolls-Royce, Caterpillar and General Dynamics.

Doncasters CEO Eric J. Lewis explained that expanding the group's North American presence is crucial to its long-range strategy. "We can now focus on turning the potential benefits of the acquisition into reality. There are strong opportunities in our chosen markets and we plan to integrate the complementary strengths of the two businesses to support growth in market share. This is likely to mean further investment - prior to the acquisition we were already planning US$150 million of capital expenditure," according to Lewis.