File Photo / Courtesy, FMI
Fiber Materials Inc., which is headquartered at 5 Morin St. in Biddeford, expanded into this leased space at 20 Morin St. a year ago.
November 19, 2024
Biddeford-based Fiber Materials Inc. to be sold for $165M to NC defense contractor
File Photo / Courtesy, FMI
A Fiber Materials worker is shown on the job in Biddeford. FMI specializes in high-temperature materials and composites, primarily for the defense and space industries.
By William Hall
Fiber Materials Inc., a 400-employee Biddeford manufacturer of heat-resistant components for the aerospace industry, may be sold off for $165 million under a new plan by the parent company to raise cash.
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings (NYSE: SPR) has inked a deal for Tex-Tech Industries to acquire FMI, according to a Nov. 17 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Tex-Tech, based in Kernersville, N.C., is a global supplier of thermal protection systems and textiles for the aerospace, defense, medical and industrial markets. The private company has operations at seven U.S. sites, including Maine plants in North Monmouth and Winthrop.
The all-cash deal is subject to adjustments and conditions. A timeframe for closing wasn't immediately clear, nor was the potential impact on the current FMI workforce.
Tex-Tech CEO Scott Burkhart said in a news release late Monday, "Tex-Tech is excited to add FMI's unique array of high-performance products to our existing portfolio of offerings for the rapidly growing space and defense industry. Our customers demand world-class solutions, and the integration of FMI bolsters our ability to meet those demands."
Spirit AeroSystems did not comment in the news release and refused to answer questions from Mainebiz about the pending sale.
Based in Wichita, Kan., Spirit is one of the world's largest manufacturers of fuselages and other structures for commercial and defense aircraft. The company purchased FMI in 2020 from a Cleveland-based private equity firm, Edgewater Capital Partners, as Spirit's defense business was expanding.
Currently, Spirit is struggling with cash flow. The company is both a supplier and a pending acquisition of the Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), but delivery problems with Boeing 737 airliners have slowed revenue for Spirit. Boeing also faces challenges of its own, after recently settling a costly labor strike by union members making up about one-fifth of its 171,000-member workforce.
The aircraft giant gave Spirit a $425 million advance on proceeds from the acquisition, but Spirit is still dispirited.
"Management expects these plans to improve the company’s liquidity and meet the company’s cash demands through the closing of the Boeing acquisition," Spirit wrote in its third-quarter earnings announcement on Oct. 23. "However, there can be no assurance that these plans or strategies will sufficiently improve our liquidity needs or that we will otherwise realize the anticipated benefits."
Despite the challenges for its parent company, the Fiber Materials business appears to have been flourishing.
Headquartered in an industrial park at 5 Morin St. in Biddeford, off U.S. Route 1, FMI manufactures composite materials that provide high-temperature protection for rocket throats, nozzles and the nose tips of re-entry space vehicles. The company also has operations in Woonsocket, R.I.
FMI products are used in U.S. ballistic missiles like the Trident D5 and in NASA programs such as Stardust, Mars Curiosity, Orion and Mars 2020.
A year ago, FMI expanded nearby with the lease of a 52,000-square-foot industrial space at 20 Morin St. The company said it expected to add at least 40 new jobs as a result of the addition.
“Over the last five years we’ve more than doubled our capacity and just about doubled our workforce,” Mark Forkapa, FMI’s director of business development and marketing, said at the time.
“We see that continuing. We’re in several really strong market segments. And there's a really strong pull for the type of high-temperature materials we produce. That's continuing to evolve.”
Earlier In 2023, FMI played a key role in the successful return of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx space capsule, which brought rocks and dust samples back from a mission to the asteroid Bennu. FMI helped fabricate the heatshield, which protected the contents from a temperature of 4,000 degrees when the returning capsule hit the Earth's atmosphere at 27,000 mph.
By mid-morning on Tuesday, shares of Spirit AeroSystems were gaining some value, trading at around $31.69 after opening at $31.02. The company has a market cap of $3.66 billion.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments