Japan’s Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI) has acquired the Esteves Group, a global supplier of diamond tooling of the wire and cable industry, for an undisclosed sum.

A press release said that the Sept. 9 closing was made through Torque Capital Partners (Torque), which announced that its portfolio company Diamond Tools Group B.V. (DTG) has agreed to sell the Esteves Group to AL.M.T. Corp. (ALMT), a subsidiary of SEI. ALMT’s product lines include a range of tungsten and carbon powders and diamond/CBN tools. Torque had acquired Essex in 2018.

“With this acquisition, we will be able to leverage both companies’ diamond dies product lineups, technological capabilities, sales networks, and service bases to further strengthen our business development, including market expansion into Europe and the United States,” the release said. It notes that the Esteves Group brand will continue to be used, and that there will be no major changes to existing service and support structure.

The portfolio of the Esteves Group, founded in 1913, includes wire drawing dies, extrusion tools and specialty tools. The company has seven strategically located facilities in six countries in Europe, North America and Asia.

The acquisition of Esteves Group will enable SEI and ALMT to significantly expand its geographical presence and accelerate its global growth, the release said. The merger will bring together complementary customer segments and innovative solutions. “SEI will support Esteves Group’s management team in realizing its business ambitions (to be a) global leader of wire drawing dies for the wire and cable industry.

“We are very excited about the prospect of joining forces with ALMT, a merger based on decades-long business relation and shared corporate values,” Esteves Group CEO Manuel Geremias said. “The combination will create a global leader with a wealth of know-how, the most advanced technological capabilities and the deepest market reach. We look forward to a prosperous collaboration that will enable us to meet the evolving needs of our clients and maintain our industry leadership.”

Per the SEI website, as of April 1, 2023, the entity has operations in more than 40 countries, with 414 subsidiaries and affiliates, and more than 208,000 employees. 

A U.S. jury has awarded Prysmian $96,500,000 in damages from Sterlite Technologies, Inc., a business of India’s Sterlite Technologies Lt. (STL), for violations of trade secrets related to a former Prysmian executive who joined the company.

A press release said that on Aug. 6, at the end of a three-week trial, a U.S. District Court jury in Columbia, South Carolina, found in favor of Prysmian. Sterlite and Szymanski had denied wrong-doing.

In its June 2021 lawsuit, Prysmian had accused a former key executive, Stephen Szymanski, of providing Prysmian’s trade secrets to STL. The jury also awarded Prysmian $200,000 from Szymanski, who ran the company’s optical fiber cable business in North America before going to Sterlite, a direct competitor, in August 2020.

“At trial, Prysmian ultimately proved that Sterlite had taken thousands and thousands of pages of Prysmian’s confidential information and trade secrets,” the release said, noting that those included information about Prysmian’s customers, newest products and plans to expand its manufacturing plants. “Much of the information was found in the possession of not just Szymanski and Sterlite, but also in the possession of executives at Sterlite’s global headquarters in Pune, India.”

“This case came down to the basic principle of right versus wrong, and we are pleased that the jury came to this decision,” said Prysmian North America CEO Andrea Pirondini. “We will not stand still when it comes to defending our confidential information and trade secrets, competing fairly in the marketplace, and doing right by our customers.”

“Prysmian has a longstanding reputation for our quality products and our commitment to delivering innovative solutions in the telecommunications space,” said Patrick Jacobi, Prysmian North America Telecom senior vice president. “Securing a win in this case is a step in the right direction.”

On Sept. 16, 2023, STL, which is active in more than 150 countries, inaugurated its first U.S. cable manufacturing plant in Lugoff, South Carolina. Its focus is high fiber count cables with small diameters.  

In an STL statement, Managing Director Ankit Agarwal said that the company remains committed to serving customers in America. “We do not intend for this verdict to interrupt our plans to grow our U.S. presence. As a company, we uphold the highest standards of ethics and integrity.

We believe the verdict is not supported by the testimony and evidence presented at the trial and intend to appeal and vigorously pursue all available post-trial remedies.”

Orlando Precision announced that it has acquired Gifford Spring Company, a family business located in Garland, Texas.

A press release said that Gifford Spring serves the aerospace, telecommunication and industrial sectors, with products that include compression springs, tapered springs, torsion and double torsion springs, extension springs and wire forms, as well as rod forming. The deal represents the first acquisition for Orlando Precision outside of its base state of California.

 “The acquisition broadens our geographic footprint, allowing us to better serve markets and customers located in Texas and throughout the south, including central Mexico,” said Frank Mauro, president of Orlando Precision. He said that it also valuable capabilities to his company’s overall capacity to innovate, deliver services and achieve strategic goals.

Founded in 1984 by Ralph Gifford in his garage with one machine “and a handful of customers,” the company quickly grew. Per the Gifford Spring website, one key to that growth was that it used secondary operational step-saving machines that Ralph Gifford designed and built using pneumatic and electronic technology and components. During this early period of dynamic growth, Ralph Gifford introduced electronic gauging and sorting on automatic spring coiling machines to the Dallas manufacturing community.

South Korea’s LS Cable & System (LS C&S) reportedly is interested in opening a plant to manufacture optical cables in Turkmenistan.

Per a posted report that cites the online publication SNG.TODAY, representatives held video negotiations with the Turkmenaragatnashyk Agency, which has the authority to conclude contracts. The discussion was about the supply and creation of optical cable production in Turkmenistan. It included discussion of needs from the construction of the “smart” city of Arkadag, fully based on advanced infrared and green technologies.

The parties agreed on further contacts and discussed the possibility of signing a Memorandum of Understanding, as well as organizing a visit of the Turkmen delegation to the LS plant in South Korea.

The report said that the negotiations were attended by representatives of the sales and production departments of optical cables LS C&S, as well as the deputy chairman and head of the infrastructure development group of the Turkmenaragatnashyk Agency. The meeting was held in video conference format. The report notes that a prior online meeting was held in September 2023.