"With this acquisition, we will be able to cover the whole value chain in hard metal production - from powder, to tool blanks to custom-made and coated round tools such as drills and end mills," said Jacques Lanners, a representative of the Ceratizit executive board.
GW will be incorporated into the Ceratizit Group as a global business unit, and will remain as a brand. The company specialises in round tools made from hardmetal, and Ceratizit and GW have worked together in the past in the manufacture of blanks and finished tools.
"The GW brand is superbly positioned in the case of end users and dealers – in Europe and in the USA and India," said Günther Wirth, founder. "As a part of the Ceratizit Group we want to develop this offering worldwide." The transaction will be completed by the end of 2012. Ceratizit and the current shareholders around the company’s founder Wirth will each hold 50% of the GW company after the transaction is finalised.
