Morgan buys five firms

MORGAN Crucible, the international industrial materials group, has taken advantage of the slump in corporate prices during the recession to make five separate acquisitions worth pounds 10.3m on 'very beneficial terms', according to Bruce Farmer, the group chief executive.

The companies, based in the UK, Continental Europe, Australia and the US, are expected to bring in combined operating profit of over pounds 2.5m.

The Lodge Ceramics division of Smiths Industries, located in Rugby, Staffordshire, has been bought by Morgan Matroc. Its products include ceramic thread and wire guides, power semi-conductor housings and ceramic armour tiles.

Morgan has acquired a majority interest in Refractories and Mineral Investments, a distributor of thermal ceramics products, including insulating firebrick, in Europe. In the US, Morgan's Chemtronics subsidiary has bought the clean room wipes business of Coventry Manufacturing and LPS Laboratories has bought the cutting-fluid business of Tapmatic Corporation together with the Tapmatic metal machining brand.

Morganite Australia has bought Epirez, a manufacturer and distributor of specialised chemical products, high-performance flooring systems and concrete protection systems.