Japanese company to acquire 50-year-old Indiana manufacturer

By Dan McGowan | Inside INdiana Business

The Japan-based parent of New Hampshire Ball Bearings Inc. has announced the acquisition of C&A Tool Engineering Inc. in Churubusco. Under terms of the deal, MinebeaMitsumi Inc. will own 51 percent of the longtime Whitley County precision metal processor and the Development Bank of Japan will own the rest.

C&A's products are used in the medical, aerospace, industrial and fuel systems fields. The company will become part of the NHBB/myonic Business Unit, which includes previously-acquired myonic and CEROBEAR, and has a total of five manufacturing facilities in the U.S., two in Germany and one in Czech Republic.

C&A has a total of three facilities: two in Churubusco and one in Auburn. MinebeaMitsumi says it expects to tap into C&A's 3D printing capabilities and expand the use of its Direct Metal Laser Sintering technology to other business units. It says the acquisition will boost diversity of aerospace product offerings and accelerate MinebeaMitsumi position in the medical field. The parent company says "we intend to build a cooperative structure under the direction of NHBB with the aim of expanding C&A business further in the years to come."

The acquisition is expected to close within a month and financial details are not being disclosed. C&A was founded in 1969 and reported $73 million in net sales last year.