Strengthening its presence in the thermoplastic composite materials and components market for automotive, oil and gas as well as consumer electronics, Royal TenCate Advanced Composites (Almelo / The Netherlands; www.tencate.com) in late May 2012 acquired Performance Materials Corporation Baycomp (PMC Baycomp, Burlington, Ontario / Canada). Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Under the terms of the deal, the former subsidiary of Performance Materials Corporation (Camarillo, California / USA; www.performancematerials.com) will become part of a new market group called TenCate Industrial Composites. The US arm of the new group will be headed by former PMC Baycomp president Thomas Smith, who will also oversee operations in Canada, China and Taiwan. TenCate Industrial Composites EMEA will become part of TenCate Advanced Composites EMEA, which is headed by Frank Meurs.

TenCate said its existing thermoplastic composites activities fully complemented those of PMC Baycomp, adding that it plans to focus its composites business on the space and aerospace markets in the future.