Israel’s Plasan yesterday said it has acquired a small United States-based developer and manufacturer of composite materials for defense and automotive applications in a deal that boosts its capacity for mass producing composites.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. KaZaK Composites, which is based in Massachusetts, makes structural components for Navy ships including the DDG-1000 destroyer, T-AKE and aircraft carriers. The company also has other customers in the Defense Department, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and defense industry, and has done research and development and production work for NASA, the Departments of Energy and Transportation and National Science Foundation.
KaZaK also makes components and structures for unmanned aircraft systems, armor materials, missile canisters, buildings and various commercial applications.
KaZaK specializes in pultrusion processing, and it says it has the world’s largest pultrusion machine, which enables it to design and build composites made from non-traditional materials that go beyond the usual commodity shapes and sizes.
“KaZaK Composite’s expertise, knowledge and respect within the industry will enhance Plasan’s large-scale composite manufacturing capabilities,” Dan Ziv, Plasan’s CEO, said in a statement. “This purchase will bring together KaZaK and Plasan’s expertise, with the goal of offering a larger and more integrated range of services in design, engineering and customer support to its defense and automotive customers in the United States.”
Plasan, which also has operations in the United States and France, also makes composite materials for defense and automotive applications. In the United States, Plasan has recently launched a carbon composites sales and engineering center in Michigan to serve the needs of its automotive customers. The company has also entered into the Armored Chariots LLC, joint venture with Arizona-based TPI Composites, Inc., to produce next-generation crew compartments for U.S. military vehicles.
KaZaK has over 40 employees. Salem Partners was KaZaK’s financial adviser on the deal.