French automotive testing group, UTAC CERAM, has completed the acquisition of UK-based Millbrook, with the two companies due to merge and create a market-leading group in vehicle testing, vehicle type approval and emerging technologies for autonomous, connected and electric vehicles. A new management team has also been announced to lead the implementation of the new organisation worldwide.
The move is expected to double group turnover, with the combined assets (people, facilities and technology) better able to meet the challenges of individual and collective mobility. UTAC CERAM will now operate eight test centres around the world, including the only Euro NCAP laboratory in France, and plans to leverage its internal resources, international network and the support of its shareholders, especially its majority shareholder, Eurazeo, to pursue a strategy of innovation and to consolidate its markets in Europe and the world. UTAC CERAM and Millbrook’s capabilities in electrification, connected and automated vehicles, ADAS, cybersecurity and simulation technologies will be combined.
The new governance structure will be chaired by Laurent Benoit. Benoit has been president of UTAC CERAM Group since 2011, having previously spent his entire career in the PSA Group (last position being powertrain and chassis advanced engineering executive manager), where he acquired a strong experience in inter-car manufacturers cooperation. He was also a general delegate at FISITA (2012-2017), an international industry association for automotive engineers.Benoit is also administrator of the Société des Ingénieurs de l’Automobile (SIA).
The new Executive Committee is composed of: Connor McCormack, executive vice-president (president of Millbrook since September 2020); Christophe Perge, executive vice-president (managing director of UTAC CERAM Group since November 2018); Andrew Nelson, chief financial officer and general secretary (CFO at Millbrook since 2016), and Laurent Midrier, who has just joined the Group as chief strategy officer, and who is more specifically in charge of the merger and integration plan for the new group, and the strategy for mergers and acquisitions.
