Acquisitions, countering counterfeits, new cable

R2 Technologies buys TE Wire & Cable, Eaton pitches in to stop counterfeit products, and Superior Essex buys most inventory of Nexans Magnet Wire USA. Also Belden added to its industrial Ethernet cable line.

By Control Engineering Staff October 7, 2004

R2 Technologies buys TE Wire & Cable, Eaton pitches in to stop counterfeit products, and Superior Essex buys most inventory of Nexans Magnet Wire USA. Also Belden added to its industrial Ethernet cable line.

R2 Technologies buys TE Wire & Cable: Thermo Electric (TE) Wire & Cable LLC reports that R2 Technologies LLC recently acquired its assets. R2 will continue its newly combined operations under the name TE Wire & Cable. TE adds that its new private investor-owners, Raymond Sobieski and Randolph Rose, bring investment and global experience to the firm that will help it become a stronger company. “This acquisition is an important step in our strategy of building a global business with TE Wire & Cable as our base,” says Sobieski, TE’s president. “Benefits of the acquisition include access to a highly skilled team of people; a reputation for quality products and service; a loyal customer base; and a global presence.” Besides its premier customers, such as Boeing, Dow, Alcoa and GE, TE maintains strong relationships with hundreds of companies worldwide, which rely on TE to supply wire and cable solutions. The original TE has been manufacturing thermocouple wire and cable products for more than 60 years. The firm produces thermocouple wire, thermocouple extension cables, copper instrument and control cables, as well as numerous custom-designed wire and cable constructions.

Superior Essex buys inventory from Nexans Magnet Wire USA: Superior Essex Inc . recently bought selected inventory from Nexans Magnet Wire USA Inc., a subsidiary of Nexans, for approximately $11 million. Thepurchase agreement calls on Essex Group Inc., a subsidiary of Superior, to acquire substantially all inventory associated with Nexans’ U.S. magnet wire operations. Superior also will assume some U.S. contractual arrangements from Nexans. Subsequently, Nexans will close its La Grange, KY-based manufacturing facility, which produces most of the magnet wire it sells to U.S. customers. Superior also will absorb incremental sales volume into its six magnet wire plants in North America. The company’s newest magnet wire plant in Torreon, Mexico, is currently being expanded by 30% to accommodate expected growth. The project will be complete in early 2005.

Eaton aids coalition to stop counterfeit electrical products . For more on the topic from Control Engineering , click here .

Construction and design of Belden Industrial Ethernet cables are said to avoid data transmission errors that can lead to unsafe conditions or interruption of critical industrial control functions.

Belden adds to its industrial Ethernet cable line: Belden CDT Electronics Division expanded its line of DataTuff data cables by adding one 2-pair and three 4-pair Category 5e cables.

Belden Industrial Ethernet cables resist electromagnetic interference (EMI) or radio frequency interference (RFI) and withstand oil, sunlight, wide temperature variations, abrasion, and crushing. Many versions of DataTuff cables offer the additional advantage of Belden’s patented Bonded-Pair technology, which affixes the conductor insulation of the cable pairs along their longitudinal axes to ensure that no performance-robbing gaps can develop between the conductor pairs. In Bonded-Pair UTP cables, the conductor-to-conductor spacing is always uniform, resulting in excellent and consistently reliable electrical performance—even after the rigors of installation. Belden calls this unique capability Installable Performance.

—Jim Montague, news editor, Control Engineering, jmontague@reedbusiness.com Mark T. Hoske, editor-in-chief, Control Engineering, MHoske@cfemedia.com