CMI and Wespavia seal a new partnership with JD’C Innovation

CMI and Wespavia seal a new partnership with JD’C Innovation

At the beginning of this new year of 2016, The CMI Group and Wespavia (a subsidiary of the S.R.I.W. specialized in the aeronautics and defence sectors), are pleased to announce that they have taken a position in the capital of JD’C Innovation SAFS (Limited Company with Social Objective). Each of them now holds almost 25% of the capital. Excellent news for the future of JD’C Innovation. But also for making full use of its expertise in composite materials, indispensible for the development of numerous CMI projects.

JD’C Innovation is the technological subsidiary of the Jean Del’Cour ‘Entreprise de Travail Adapté’ (ETA), or a company which provides work for persons with handicaps.

It specializes in the design and manufacture of sub-assembly parts in composite materials. JD’C Innovation wishes to offer training and stable employment to handicapped and disadvantaged persons. In September 2014, thanks to an investment of 2 million Euros, JD’C Innovation equipped itself with a new infrastructure and new equipment. The enterprise intends to offer large clients in the aeronautics and defence sectors with an overall low-cost service which they could previously only find thousands of kilometres away.

The partnership sealed with the new shareholders is historic for the enterprise. By each acquiring almost 25% of the capital of JD’C Innovation, CMI and Wespavia both intend to strengthen the activities of JD’C. CMI will make its expertise in large scale project management available to JD’C Innovation and will support it in its development on two markets it knows well: aeronautics and defence.

Wespavia, which has a holding in FN Herstal, Techspace Aero and Sonaca, will help with the commercial development of the SAFS.

JD’C Innovation, for its part, will bring to CMI and to local companies its know-how in the conception, execution and industrialization of composite material components. This expertise, today indispensible in numerous projects, will contribute to the development of the very new CMI Welding Center of Expertise.

Léon-Maurice Haulet, President of JD’C Innovation: “This partnership is excellent news for ensuring the long term future of JD’C Innovation in the Liège region, in Wallonia and internationally. Now, with CMI, we can turn to a major industrial player for the development of our activities and also benefit from its technical skills and its commercial network. It was important to obtain specific complementary financial support; Wespavia, specialized in the aeronautics and defence sectors, is an ideal partner. On behalf of the whole of the Board, I would in particular like to thank Dany Drion, at the head of the Group, without whom this new project would never have come into being”.

Bernard Serin, Chairman and MD of the CMI Group: “We already work with the Jean Del’Cour group, in particular for the assembly of electric harnesses for CMI Defence and the manufacture of electricity cabinets for CMI Balteau. Taking a participation in the capital of JD’C Innovation marks a new step in our relationship. Its expertise in composite materials will provide us in particular with responses to the substantial challenges we are confronting for certain of our equipment. But going beyond these very down to earth considerations, I am above all very happy that this partnership has been sealed with a company with such a noble social project too”.

Olivier Vanderijst, Chairman of the Board of Wespavia: “Through this operation, Wespavia wishes to take part in the consolidation of an industrial and technological SME, and also to enable the establishment of strong long term relations between JD’C Innovation and CMI”.