Kordsa has acquired Fabric Development Inc (FDI) and Textile Products Inc. (TPI), which provide advanced composite materials to the commercial aviation industry, with an investment of approximately $100 million. Kordsa sees this opportunity as a step towards reinforcing its position in the US as well as becoming a strong player in the aviation supply chain.

FDI is into designing and production of Kevlar fabric and carbon fabric for composite and ballistic applications while TPI is a specialty textile research and. development organisation.

"Over the years, we leveraged our expertise in tire reinforcement technologies into construction reinforcement and composite technologies and expanded our lines of business. As Kordsa, we touch every corner of daily life and reinforce life. In parallel to our strategic decision to focus on composite technologies, we inaugurated Composite Technologies Center of Excellence, which operates as an innovation hub combining industry and university under the same roof as well as is home to basic research, design R&D and production in 2016. Our business journey today is brought to a new level with this brand-new investment which will lead us to become a global player in the field of commercial aviation having an important presence in the commercial aviation value chain," Kordsa CEO Ali Çaliskan said.

"This new step will ensure us to be a strategic supplier of key players in aerospace and civil aviation, particularly Boeing and Toray Composites Materials America Inc. With this acquisition, we also aim to strengthen our strong global leadership in reinforcement technologies. We used to reinforce the tires of the aircrafts, now we are honored to say that we will also reinforce the wings and hulls of the aircrafts with our composite technologies, as well as the landing tracks of those aircrafts with our construction reinforcement technologies. Kordsa, now operating in 10 facilities throughout 4 continents, will continue to reinforce life and take firm steps forward," concludes Çaliskan. (RR)