Fluorocarbon to Buy Firm Making Space Composites

Fluorocarbon Co. said it has agreed in principle to buy Reynolds & Taylor Inc., a Santa Ana maker of advanced composite materials for the defense and aerospace industries.

Privately held Reynolds & Taylor, founded in Santa Ana in 1960, has 150 employees and reported sales last year of about $10 million.

Officials at Fluorocarbon, which has its headquarters in Laguna Niguel, said the acquisition will be made for cash but would not disclose the purchase price until a final agreement has been signed.

Roger Reynolds Jr., chairman and major shareholder of Reynolds & Taylor, will continue to work with the company as a consultant, and the company will keep its headquarters in Santa Ana, Fluorocarbon officials said.

In a prepared statement, Fluorocarbon Chairman Peter Churm said Reynolds & Taylor “is almost a perfect fit” with Fluorocarbon’s composites division in Seattle. “We first started working with composite materials . . . for the Boeing Co. several years ago.”

But while Fluorocarbon’s Seattle facility produces components mainly for the commercial aviation industry, Reynolds & Taylor’s business is predominately with the military, said Reynolds & Taylor’s president, Bob Schmidt.

Plastic composite materials, including graphite and Kevlar, are used in aircraft, missile and aerospace applications where high strength and low weight are essential.

Churm said the acquisition would not add earnings to company totals this year but is “expected to make a nice contribution next year.”

Fluorocarbon operates 25 domestic plants in 11 states and has foreign operations in Canada, Britain and Belgium. The company has about 2,100 employees and manufactures industrial components made from high-performance materials.

A Fluorocarbon spokesman said acquisition of Reynolds & Taylor should not mean any major changes in that company’s operations or staffing.