September 2020

SCUNTHORPE-BASED CP Automation has acquired Bedford-based Magnetek Elevator UK, which supplies AC and DC drives for geared and gearless lift applications. CP says that the deal will establish it as a leading supplier of drives to the vertical transportation industry. CP has acquired Magnetek from the US- based Columbus McKinnon Corporation which itself acquired the Magnetek brand for $188.9m in 2015. Financial details of the new transaction have not been revealed. CP Automation says that the acquisition, which is part of wider growth plans, will bolster its product offering in the lifts market and will ensure that existing Magnetek customers continue to access products and customer support in the EMEA, Australia and New Zealand. CP plans to integrate Magnetek’s Bedford office into its organisation, and is taking on Magnetek’s sales and support staff. “Since 2017, we have stocked Magnetek products to provide integrated engineering systems for the crane industry and have worked together on countless previous projects in the elevator and escalator sector,” explains CP Automation director, Tony Young. “This acquisition is an extension of an existing partnership and part of CP Automation’s strategy to now establish the business as a go-to supplier in the elevator sector. CP Automation specialises in the supply, repair and field servicing of AC and DC drives, resistors, PLCs and inverters. Magnetek’s history dates back to 1984 with the formation, in the US, of Litton's Magnetics Group, which included Louis Allis Drives & Systems. In 1984 Magnetek sold its motors business to AO Smith and in 2001, Yaskawa bought the AC inverter business for $28m in cash in a bid to become the US drives market-leader. Yaskawa, which had previously manufactured drives for Magnetek, started to promote the products under its own name. n NEWS AN OXFORDSHIRE company that manufactures lightweight axial-flux motors for electric vehicles, is expanding its production facilities, creating 150-250 jobs over the next three to five years. Saietta’s plant, at Upper Heyford near Bicester, will be powered by solar panels and will be funded by a new investment round. “We have now reached the point at which the last three years of planning can be realised,” says Saietta Group CEO, Wicher Kist. “To have seen market demand increase so significantly means that a new round of funding will allow us to capitalise on the wave of vehicles that will be entering development soon.” Saietta was formed in 2015 by the merger of the Indian-based motor manufacturer Agni Motors and the electric motorcycle developer, Agility Global, following a long partnership between the two companies. Its modular AFT (axial flux traction) permanent magnet motors are based on the designs of the British inventor, Cedric Lynch. The sealed, brushless, zero-maintenance motors are scalable for high- and low-voltage applications from scooters to buses. Saietta currently employs about 40 people in the UK and 30 in India. It plans to sell its technology under licence in Asia and other parts of the world. UK EV motor- maker expands, creating up to 250 jobs Magnetek supplies a range of AC and DC drives dedicated to lift applications IT INFRASTRUCTURE SOFTWARE & SERVICES www.rittal.co.uk CP Automation acquires Magnetek’s UK lift drives business