The French company UTAC CERAM and the British Millbrook group are to merge to create a new automotive testing and development organisation.
Both companies are key partners to automotive customers in Europe and around the world, and the merger will create a market leading group in vehicle testing, homologation and emerging technologies for autonomous, connected and electric vehicles.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2021, subject to the normal regulatory clearances. This merger would double the Group's revenues.
The companies say that the combined group will draw on significant technological assets and technical expertise to meet the rapidly changing environment facing the automotive industry. The new alliance will, they say, generate multiple synergies, creating a leader in complementary markets, combining high quality customer portfolios, developing an extended range of services and leveraging its deep technological resources, human expertise and broad geographical coverage.
Millbrook brings extensive expertise in automotive electric driveline development, in particular through its battery and electric drivetrain test centres based in the United Kingdom and the United States. These services complement UTAC CERAM’s expertise in ADAS and Euro NCAP testing and in cybersecurity, connectivity and simulation, as deployed in its Teqmo autonomous vehicle test centre.
The group will operate several test centres throughout the world — in France at the Linas-Montlhéry and Mortefontaine facilities, in the United Kingdom in Bedford and Leyland, in the United States in Detroit and California, in Finland at a vehicle test facility with indoor and outdoor winter testing tracks, and in Morocco with a brand new test centre offering a track where vehicles are exposed to extreme heat (scheduled to open in 2021).
The group will have the capability to offer a more extensive and comprehensive range of services including: the delivery of complex certification and testing programmes; the testing of vehicles and tyres in hot and cold climates; designing and delivering bespoke customer solutions and working with global brand partners to develop the connected electric vehicles of the future. A broad international reach will be combined with deep, local understanding of clients’ operational environments and key technologies.
The new group, which will be headed by Laurent Benoit, the current President of UTAC CERAM. He said: “The alliance with Millbrook represents a fantastic opportunity for our teams and a decisive step that allows us to continue supporting manufacturers and equipment suppliers along their industrial, societal and technological journey, as we have done with passion and pride since 1945.”
Connor McCormack, President of Millbrook said, “The highly-complementary skills, services and technologies of UTAC CERAM and Millbrook will enable us to extend our offering, which will benefit our customers the world over. In the year of our 50th anniversary, combining the two businesses positions us well to lead the market in technical testing, vehicle homologation and new technology. It is an exciting adventure in which everyone at Millbrook is proud to be involved.”