Mitsubishi Rayon Carbon Fiber and Composites, headquartered in Irvine, California, will launch on 1 April 2013. The company will manufacture and sell carbon fibre, composites materials and adhesive films.
Grafil, a carbon fibre manufacturer located in Sacramento, California, and Newport, a producer of composite prepreg and adhesive products based in Irvine, California, have operated as separate entities since they were acquired by Mitsubishi Rayon in the early 1990s.
Acquisition of Aldila
The launch of Mitsubishi Rayon Carbon Fiber and Composites Inc is another boost to Mitsubishi Rayon's presence in the US. In December 2012, Mitsubishi Rayon America Inc (MRA) acquired Aldila Inc, of Poway, California, a manufacturer of prepreg and carbon fibre golf club shafts. “Aldila will be joining a world class advanced composite materials company that is fully integrated from the base raw material acrylonitrile, precursor, carbon fibre and prepreg materials," said Peter Mathewson, Aldila’s CEO.
"MRC also offers a leading global graphite golf shaft product line-up under the Mitsubishi Rayon brand. We see unique synergies and opportunities for growing our two business segments of Composite Products and Composite Materials by joining with Mitsubishi Rayon.”
