Sarnatech BNL To Be Sold

Sarnatech BNL Ltd. (UK) is on the block to be sold, announced parent company Sarna Polymer Holdings Inc. (Switzerland). Sarna is divesting all of its nonstrategic business units to focus on polymer sheeting. Sarnatech BNL is the world leader in lubricant-free thermoplastic rolling element bearings, producing approximately 50 million bearings each year. It is also the leading automotive Tier 1 supplier of custom plastic bearings for various in-car applications. The bearings usually have integrally formed shafts, gears or mechanical assemblies, and are found in most photocopiers, office machines, signs, cameras, computer scanners, food processing equipment and chemical processing equipment. Although plastic bearings are most often designed for a particular application, BNL is unique in that its sales efforts also target "conversion" OEM sales for applications where the original bearings are made from more traditional materials such as 52100 steel. BNL has several offices around the world in Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Spain and the USA, in addition to its UK manufacturing facility in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. Knaresborough employs approximately 120 people and has annual sales in the range of USD $13 million. In Knaresborough, production equipment includes 23 precision molding machines, varying from 30 to 175 clamping tons. The company recently installed additional twin-shot Engel & Netstal full-robotic injection molding machines to add TPE surfaces to thermoplastic moldings. The twin-shot equipment is also being used to produce soft-touch handles for Black & Decker hand tools. For 2004, BNL was named Ricoh UK's Supplier of the Year and achieved on-time delivery, zero-defect bearings for three years running. Sarnatech BNL is ISO9001:2000 certified and recently received ISO/TS 16949:2002 (slated to replace QS9000) for automotive OEM supply requirements. BNL's founder, David Garnett, is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the molded polymer bearing ("Bearing No Lube"). Mr. Garnett developed the molded polymer bearing idea when he worked for Koyo. He left Koyo in 1975 to found BNL Bearing. The central idea behind the BNL bearing is that it is a rolling-element bearing which is usually molded directly into the component. For example, in a photocopier application, the paper feed roller is designed and formed to function as the bearings's outer race. This integral design and molding makes for more efficient design and assembly, along with fewer parts and fewer opportunities for design and service problems. In 1988, Mr. Garnett sold BNL to Henry Barrett Group plc (UK), but bought it back in 1991 amidst a management buyout at Henry Barrett. In 1994, Sarna Kuntsoff Holding AG (Switzerland) bought BNL Bearing and established it as Sarnatech BNL Ltd., a part of Sarna Group's Sarnamotive Division America. Mr. Garnett died in September 2003 after a battle with cancer. Bearing inventor David Garnett dies in the UK In its decision to divest Sarnatech BNL, Sarna announced it will sell that portion of the company separately from the rest. Several analysts said they believe Sarnatech BNL is the only profitable piece of Sarna's entire automotive supply division; selling it off separately will assure a higher price, and make it more likely to be sold to another bearing manufacturer rather than an automotive industry supplier. Sarna made the decision to sell off its other divisions to focus on Sarnafil, a leading worldwide supplier of polymer membranes for the international construction and civil engineering industries. Sarnafil's 2004 sales were 379 million Swiss francs, up 5% over 2003. Sarna said it believes there are exceptionally strong growth opportunities for Sarnafil which are lacking in its other divisions. BNL has reportedly attracted some interest from potential buyers, but Sarna would not comment if the buyers are from the bearing industry or other sectors.