Cambium acquires global composites manufacturer SHD Group

Source | Cambium

Cambium (El Segundo, Calif., U.S.), a company developing advanced materials like carbon/carbon (C/C) composites for high-performance sectors, has acquired composites company SHD Group (Sleaford, U.K.), creating a global company that combines AI-driven materials innovation with scalable, qualified manufacturing to serve aerospace, defense, energy, high-performance automotive, motorsport, marine and other advanced industrial markets.

SHD operates four sites: one at its U.K. headquarters, two in the U.S. (North Carolina and Oklahoma) and one in the EU (Slovenia). Together with Cambium’s California base, the combined company will have a global innovation and manufacturing footprint capable of serving customers wherever they operate.

The combined company will be headquartered in El Segundo, California, with SHD operating as “SHD, a Cambium company.” Its leadership, operations and customer relationships remain unchanged. Cambium board director Brett Schneider becomes president of SHD and Cambium Composites. SHD founders, Steve and Helen Doughty, continue as director of innovation and director of integration, respectively, to ensure continuity with the SHD team and their customers and suppliers through this next high growth phase. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“Helen and Steve [Doughty] have built a truly amazing company, one that not only fits Cambium’s vision for redefining what is possible with advanced materials, but one that will also be a great cultural fit,” says Cambium co-founder and CEO Simon Waddington. “They have built a fast response time production system that delivers orders ten times faster than competition — even delivering product solutions within 48 hours. The company also has a
palpable ethos of quality and care. For Cambium, all of this adds up to a tectonic impact on day one for our team, partners and customers."

Specific key factors behind the acquisition include:

Global footprint. Qualified manufacturing across the U.S., the U.K. and the EU deliver custom materials up to ten times faster than competitors.

Agile production system. Proprietary, low-waste lines enables rapid changeovers and small-batch to mass production scalability, backed by 100+ global suppliers, minimizing supply chain risk and delivering composite solutions on short lead times.

Proven customer base and culture. Hundreds of aerospace, motorsport, marine and industrial customers, as well as a shared focus on speed, service and innovation.

In-house engineering. SHD designs and builds proprietary machines and processes fast and affordably, enabling efficient expansion and upgrades for high-performance advanced composite materials.

Sustainable development. SHD adds deep expertise in sustainable material development demanded by many aerospace and other industrial companies, using advanced resin systems and low-waste manufacturing processes that complement Cambium’s mission to engineer high-performance materials with reduced environmental impact.

“Cambium and SHD combining redefines the future of advanced materials development and production at scale and provides legacy and emerging customers a growth enabler that does not exist today,” concludes Brett Schneider, president of SHD and Cambium Composites.

Future Materials Group (FMG, Cambridge, U.K.) acted as the exclusive M&A advisor to SHD Composites on its sale to Cambium, supporting SHD from inception to completion.

“FMG’s strategic guidance, market insight and unwavering support made them an exceptional advisor to SHD throughout this transaction,” says Helen Doughty, managing director at SHD Composites.

The completion of this transaction underscores FMG’s reputation as a trusted M&A advisor within the global advanced materials industry. FMG’s deep industry insight, international reach and hands-on approach continue to help clients realize strategic value and secure partnerships that support their next stage of development.