Grede Holdings LLC reports it has acquired substantially all the assets of Virginia Casting Industries, LLC (VCI), in Radford, VA, which will operate as Grede Radford LLC. It is the 17th foundry in the Grede chain, which produces ductile, gray, and iron castings for automotive, truck, and industrial markets. It was established early in 2010 by the merger of the former Grede Foundries Inc. and Citation Corp. Subsequent acquisitions have included Blackhawk Foundry (USA), Paxton Mitchell Corp., and two Grupo Proeza foundries in Mexico, NovoCast and Teknik.
The cost and terms of the acquisition was not released.
The Radford foundry was a longtime Intermet Corp. operation that closed in 2009 when that organization liquidated in a bankruptcy process.
In 2010, Michigan’s Cadillac Casting Inc. invested a reported $9.1 million to acquire the Radford foundry, with assistance of a $600,000 grant from Virginia’s Governor’s Opportunity Fund. Grede noted the plant has a current employment of 170, and it expects to increase that total to 270 in 2013 as production levels increase.
“The addition of Grede Radford to our manufacturing footprint is a perfect complement to our strong automotive portfolio of safety-critical parts including steering knuckles and lower control arms,” stated Grede Holdings chairman Doug Grimm. “It is very similar to our St. Cloud (MN) foundry, thereby, increasing our manufacturing capacity for Grede’s strategic automotive customers as demand continues to increase.”