It is now done. The cable manufacturer Nexans announced, Thursday January 2, the finalization of the sale of its American subsidiary AmerCable to the Canadian Mattr, for an enterprise value of 280 million dollars (272 million euros). Negotiations between the two connection giants resulted in an agreement at the beginning of November.
Based in the United States, the company produces low and medium voltage cables for the mining, oil and gas markets. AmerCable has two factories, in El Dorado, Arkansas, and Katy, Texas. Created in 1922, the company employs 300 employees for a turnover of 234 million euros in 2023. The French manufacturer acquired its subsidiary in 2012, for a valuation then of 275 million dollars (211 million euros in 2012).
Nexans specialization in the electricity market
The transaction aims to “refocus the group on electrification and simplify our portfolio”, indicates Christopher Guérin, CEO of Nexans, in a press release. This sale sounds like an extension of the plan called “Winds of change”, launched by the company in 2021. At the time, the Frenchman had given himself two years to refocus on its activities linked to the electricity market. Because the giant must work harder to meet the explosion in global demand for electrical cables, in order to connect the growing number of gigantic offshore wind farms and land-based renewable energy sites to the networks.
Historically organized around six segments, the group seeks to ultimately separate itself from its telecoms, automotive harness and industrial activities. At the same time, it is seeking to get its hands on specialists in the electrical market, as with the acquisition, finalized in June, of the Italian low-voltage cable specialist La Triveneta Cavi. In total, Christopher Guérin, its managing director, has planned more than a billion euros of asset sales in the years following 2021, and an equivalent amount of acquisitions.
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
