Cobham Reaffirms Fate of Westwind Bearing Unit

Cobham Group PLC (UK), an aerospace and defense industry supplier, is reorganizing says the company, "to more clearly align products and services with the customers and markets they serve." The Flight Refuelling division is being eliminated, reorganized and renamed the Aerospace Systems Division. Aerospace Systems will consist primarily of the company's FR-HiTEMP, Flight Refuelling Military Systems, Sargent Fletcher, Stanley Aviation, Carleton Technologies and Conax. The other two divisions, Avionics and Flight Operations & Services, are unaffected by the reorganization. Robin Clark, a 22-year Cobham veteran and Managing Director of Flight Refuelling, left the company. Andrew Stevens, currently head of Rolls-Royce defense aerospace division, will join Cobham in November 2003 to head the new Aerospace Systems Division. Left out of this process entirely is the company's Westwind Air Bearings Ltd. unit, which will report separately, directly to CEO Allan Cook. Westwind is the world's leading manufacturer of rotary air bearing systems and high-precision, high-speed air bearing spindles. Its customers are primarily involved in semiconductor manufacturing. Founded in 1965, Westwind was originally a small UK-based manufacturer of dental drills. In 1968, Federal-Mogul Corporation (USA) bought Westwind. The company gradually developed into the world's leading supplier of high-precision, high-speed air bearing and spindle systems. In May 1993, Federal-Mogul sold Westwind to the investment firm Kleinwort Capital (UK). At the time, Westwind's sales were £8.5 million. Kleinwort made strategic investments in Westwind, reorganized and redirected it toward the semiconductor market. In November 1995, with sales topping £26 million, Kleinwort sold Westwind to Cobham for £75 million. Cobham continued to develop Westwind, cementing its position as the leader in air bearing spindles. The company's fortunes have been up and down through the years, however, tied to the volatile semiconductor industry. In 2001, the company shed 100 workers (25%) from the primary Dorset manufacturing location, shifting some work to other Flight Refuelling operations. In March 2003, Westwind opened new manufacturing and remanufacturing facilities in Suzhou, China. As far back as 2001, Cobham had been testing the waters for a possible divestiture of Westwind. Cobham was becoming strictly focused on aerospace and defense, and Westwind was no longer considered a core business. At the time, Cobham's Gordon Page said Westwind, "is not something we are going to give away," but, "not something I would die in the ditch for."