From 19 December the Cookson Group has formally split into two separate entities, with its solder business now part of Alent plc. Both Alent , which groups electronics assembly materials and plating chemicals businesses, and Vesuvius plc, including ceramics and precious metals, are listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Alent has over 2,500 employees and 23 major manufacturing sites worldwide, with sales split roughly a third each in Europe, Asia and the Americas. It reported revenues of UK£814 million in 2011, net sales (less commodity metal costs) of £418 million and a trading profit of £100 million. In its prospectus Alent notes that it used approximately 12,000 tonnes of tin and 6 million ounces of silver in 2011.
Over recent years the company has been focussed on building sales of products such as solder paste aimed at the surface mount assembly business rather than older-style wave soldering. Last year net sales of SMT materials, at £89.3 million, greatly exceeded those of bar solders and fluxes used in wave soldering (£42.1 million).
