Group expands with Polish factory buy-out (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Heckmondwike firm beefs up European operation

10:48am Monday 8th November 2010 in Business

Machine tools producer the 600 Group has beefed up its European operations through the acquisition of a factory in Poland.

The firm, whose European hub is at Heckmondwike, said the £870,000 deal would change its machine tools business model and shorten supply lead times within the group.

It will enable the group to produce more of its own equipment and reduce reliance on outsourced production as orderbooks are recovering strongly..

600 Group has signed an agreement to acquire the machine tool manufacturing plant in Tarnow, Poland in a cash deal.

The acquisition includes the fixed assets, tooling and inventory and 195 employees at the plant for which 600 Group has taken over management control with immediate effect.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval by the courts in Poland.

The Tarnow plant previously carried out civil production within a subsidiary of ZMT, part of the Bumar Group, Poland’s state-owned defence business.

David Norman, chief executive of 600 Group, said: “We see the potential benefits of having a skilled workforce able to manufacture products which will complement our activities in the precision components area as well as machine tools.

“We believe the Central and Eastern European markets will become strategically important for the Group.”