Deloro Stellite was a strong candidate for transformation. Operating in a complex market, with high barriers to entry, the company had an excellent opportunity to grow on the back of a strong global customer base and excellent product offering. We appointed a new management team and tripled capital spending to prepare Deloro Stellite for further rapid growth. Deloro Stellite was one of the world’s leading producers of hard-wearing, long-lasting components made from cobalt and nickel alloys. Its products and services were used by the aerospace, power generation, oil and gas, auto and medical industries in environments where high temperatures, corrosion and abrasion can limit a product’s life. When Deloro Stellite was put up for sale by its owners, we were already well aware of the company. We’d known the previous CEO of Deloro Stellite for a number of years, and had been tracking the business for some time. As a result we had a clear insight into the issues the company was facing and were able to get the management team on our side and conclude the deal quickly. Headquartered in London, Deloro Stellite operated nine plants in North America, Europe and China. Its customers included Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, Alstom, GE and BAe. The casting and machining of superalloys is a sophisticated business. It requires a high degree of know-how, both of the processes involved and of each customer’s complex requirements. These factors make it very difficult for new companies to enter the market, or to build the kind of long-standing customer relationships it demands. Deloro Stellite was a strong candidate for transformation. During our ownership, we strengthened management, introduced a clearer strategic focus, provided significant operational and capital support to management to drive a substantial investment in expanding production capacity and improving operational efficiency. We sold the non-core medical division to Marle International in December 2011 and we sold Deloro Group to Kennametal inc in March 2012.