US group SPS Technologies, which employs 550 people in Shannon, Co Clare, has been sold to the American multinational, Precision Castparts Corporation (PCC). The sale of the company for $575 million (€516 million) was announced on Monday.

SPS, which employs 5,700 people worldwide, set up its Shannon operation in the 1960s. It is one of the longest-established companies in the Shannon region and manufactures and supplies fasteners and other metal products for use in aerospace, automotive and other industrial applications.

It now has four divisions in Shannon: Unbrako Europe, which makes fasteners, screws, nuts and bolts; Hi-Life Tools, which makes precision forming cutting tools for the metalworking industry; Hi-Life Forming Tool Management, which supplies tools for the cold heading industry; and Mohawk Europa Ltd, which manufactures cutting tools for the automotive and aerospace industries.

PCC, which is quoted on the New York Stock Exchange, manufactures metal components and products for the aerospace and the industrial gas turbine industries. It employs almost 12,000 people worldwide across its operations in Mexico, England, Scotland, France, The Netherlands, Italy, the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, India, China, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia.