Ballard To Acquire Textron Systems Unit.(Ballard Power Systems acquires carbon products unit)(Brief Article)

Ballard Power Systems Inc. said that it has signed an agreement with Textron Systems of Wilmington, Massachusetts under which Ballard will acquire Textron's carbon products business unit for $12.8 million.

Textron Systems' business unit develops and manufactures a variety of carbon materials for automotive and fuel cell applications, including a gas diffusion layer (GDL) for use in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. A GDL allows the even diffusion of gases against the membrane at the heart of a PEM fuel cell.

The acquired business unit, named Ballard Material Products, Inc., will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Ballard Power Systems. It will employ over 50 people and be located in a 137,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility on eight acres in Lowell, Massachusetts, the company stated.

The acquisition includes intellectual property comprising 66 patents issued and pending worldwide, covering 14 distinct inventions, according to Ballard. Firoz Rasul, Ballard's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "This acquisition brings to Ballard expertise in carbon materials engineering and automotive component manufacturing, a portfolio of relevant intellectual property and a business unit that can substantially fund all of its research and development expenditures from its current revenues."

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