CGR establishes a base in the UK thanks to the acquisition of John Binns & Son (Springs) Limited

CGR, co-designer and manufacturer of mechanic and mechatronic components in Europe, America and Asia is pleased to announce the acquisition of John Binns Springs, a British specialist manufacturer of wire springs.

With over 128 years’ experience and market-leading expertise using the most advanced technologies, John Binns Springs supports its customers in the design and manufacture of springs and wire-formed parts. John Binns Springs has a wealth of experience in offering innovative solutions to the most complex issues in all industrial sectors, including medical, nuclear, retail and automotive.

The management team of John Binns Springs will remain in place, adding its expertise and industry knowledge to the family owned CGR group, contributing further to its international development.

Alex Driver, Director of John Binns Springs: “For John Binns, CGR is a remarkable growth opportunity, opening up new technologies and new fields of activity. This will allow us to increase further our technical expertise, particularly with the support of the CGR R&D laboratory”.

Joseph Varoqui, President of CGR: “The acquisition of JB Springs is part of the vision for local production within an international scope. This is fundamental to satisfying clients’ needs.”

Alexis Martel, C.E.O. of CGR: “Both companies share the same values, we provide a healthy, motivating and empowering work environment for our people.  By developing its global growth, CGR develops quality jobs all over the world”.

CGR at a glance:

CGR was originally a pure spring maker, the company is now offering co-engineering and serial production of various metal components or metal plastic components based on cold forming technology (wire, tube, cable, steep steel), overmolding and automated assembly.

In 2022, the turnover of the group reached 196 million Euros with a target of 220 million by 2023.

CGR autonomous production units in Europe, America and Asia have a common methodology and propose to our customers high reactivity, consistent quality, and secured worldwide service.

CGR products split in three different industrial families:

• Precision springs with more than 15 000 part numbers. Each year, 200 to 300 new parts are being developed with the customers. Leveraging on specialized manufacturing plants, CGR is able to provide any kind of diameter, any metal (carbon steel, stainless steel, nickel cobalt alloys, titanium,..) , shape (flat or wire) , prototype, and small or large serial production.
• Cold forming with components in round wire or laminated, tubes or cables. There are more than 500 references, 80 engineered annually. Key market segments are vehicle seat, safety belt, wiper arm, exhaust hanger, …
• Mechatronic : this family includes stamping and overmolding of copper or steel strips. These components are included in the electric connectors or protection of electronic systems. For example, CGR manufactures part of the pyroswitch allowing to switch off automatically the battery in case of accident.

The group delivers to more than 1500 customers all over the world, with around 80% in the automotive sector, 10% for aerospace, and 10% for electric industry and other industries.

John Binns Springs at a glance:

John Binns Springs is an established UK spring manufacturer that provides complex spring solutions to broad range of customers, capable of both small batch manufacture and higher volume runs of bespoke products to stringent specifications.

The business offers a large degree of flexibility, able to utilize a wide variety of materials and excels in the cold forming of wires from 0.4mm to 20.0mm, laser cutting and the forming of flat material products.

The Company has built an exceptional reputation for designing and manufacturing custom spring solutions, utilizing the years of industry knowledge and expertise of its specialist in-house team.

The business has invested heavily into new plant and equipment in recent years, investing in lean technology to improve productivity and customer service. Recent investment into new machinery has enabled John Binns Springs to take advantage of new production techniques and the development of new products, markets and sectors.

John Binns Springs has built a loyal customer base due to its focus on quality, customer service, flexibility and attention to detail. John Binns Springs looks to add value by continually adapting production processes to solve problems for customers.

CGR

• due diligence team (Claudine de Brito, Jean-Marie Lavirotte, Philippe Tissot, Trong-Huy Luu, David Caballol, Sylvain Coniel, Nathalie Thevenet)

Buyer advisor

• DMH Legal advisor (Jonathan Grant, Josie Appleyard, Tom Watkins, Maino Abigail)
• Tax Advisory Partnership (Russ Cahill)

Seller advisor

• Mazars (Alex Baskeyfield, Arran Smedley)
• Squire Patton Boggs (William Down, Emily Downie, Joshua Astill-headley, David Hartford-Jeffrey, Ed Forth)

Financing

• BNP Paribas (Laetitia Tronchon)
• Crédit Agricole ( Thomas Morais)