Ceradyne Inc. Acquires ESK from Former Parent Mfr. Wacker-Chemie

Published: October 25, 2004, By pffc-online.com

PRESS RELEASE

COSTA MESA, CA, USA — Ceradyne Inc. reports the acquisition of ESK from its former parent company, Wacker-Chemie, a German silicon and chemical manufacturer. According to Ceradyne, ESK (then known as Electroschmelzwerk Kempten AG) was founded in 1922 to produce non-oxide powders and technical ceramics. ESK was acquired by Wacker-Chemie GmbH in 1993 and operated under the name Wacker Ceramics.

Ceradyne says with the ESK acquisition, it plans to revert back to the original ESK name and the ESK logo. "The company's major product lines include its position as a prime supplier of boron carbide powder, which is the starting material for much of Ceradyne's lightweight ceramic armor that accounts for more than 60 percent of the company's sales. ESK is considered a world leader in several industrial categories of advanced technical ceramics, accounting for more than 90 percent of its sales, including evaporation boats for the vacuum metallizing process."

Adds Ceradyne CEO Joel Moskowtiz: "We are very excited about acquiring a world-class leader in non-oxide advanced technical ceramics for industrial applications....ESK produces hundreds of tons of powders annually, while Ceradyne manufactures silicon nitride using its proprietary sintered reaction bonded silicon nitride (SRBSN) process. While both companies are in similar markets for advanced ceramics — industrial, defense, automotive, commercial — this is very little overlap of actual products. As a result, this acquisition offers an opportunity for broaden our product offerings in each major region and thereby realize not only additional sales growth but also related production efficiencies."

Learn more at ceradyne.com.