Key Technologies subsidiary sold in £2.4m deal

WEST Midlands-based specialist engineering company Key Technologies has sold its STS Rail Signals subsidiary in Cradley Heath in a £2.4m deal.

Dutch firm Mors Smitt, which manufactures relays for the global rail industry, has acquired the operation to boost its presence in the sector.

The divested business is primarily focused on the manufacture of signalling relays and also designs and manufactures Train Protection Warning Systems and components.

Mors Smitt, headquartered in Utrecht, has a prior relationship with STS Rail, having been its distributor in Asia.

Key Technologies, chaired by leading West Midland industrialist David Grove, said the divested business would trade as Mors Smitt UK Ltd and would remain on the Cradley Heath site, which is shared with Key Technologies’ headquarters, STS Switchgear and STS Motors.

Key Technologies, one of three firms listed on Birmingham’s online share trading platform Investbx, will retain the STS Rail business located in Wimborne, Dorset. This business manufactures telecommunication concentrators for railway applications.

In the financial year to June 30, 2010, the divested business had sales of £2.83m and an operating profit of £0.24m.