Liverpool city region supercar brake disc maker Surface Transforms is seeking a buyer for the business after the devastating loss of its biggest customer sent it into a tailspin, threatening its future. Tony McDonough reports
Carbon fibre brake disc maker Surface Transforms (ST) is seeking a buyer for the stricken business.
On March 3, ST said it had lost a contract with global automotive giant General Motors (GM). In 2025 GM accounted for £15.3m in sales – 84% of ST’s revenues and 85% of all its brake discs but said it would source its brake discs elsewhere from March 31.
Knowsley-based ST, which employs 170 people, believed it had a contract with the US carmaker until 2030 and had received operational support and financial assistance including advance payments of £14.4m.
In a statement to the stock exchange on March 12, the AIM-listed business suspended trading in its shares and filed a Notice of Intention to appoint Administrators. It said redundancies among its 170-strong workforce are now likely.
In an update to AIM on Friday, ST said it is launching a strategic review and formal sale process for the company. It added it had engaged in multiple discussions with key stakeholders to seek additional funding to support continued trading activities.
This led to the appointment of Michael Magnay and Jonathan Marston of Alvarez & Marsal Europe as joint administrators. It was also announced that the company had appointed Alvarez & Marsal as corporate restructuring adviser.
This latest statement said: “At this point it is intended that the company shall continue operating in the short term. However, the financial position of the Company remains highly uncertain.”
Options being explored include, among others, a sale of all or part of the company’s business and assets, a capital injection, a restructuring of the company’s liabilities, and a sale of Surface Transforms via a formal sale process.
ST is not currently in any discussions with any potential offeror relating to an acquisition. An ‘offer period’ has now started in accordance with the Takeover Code.
It manufactures carbon fibre reinforced ceramic automotive brake discs for high performance cars. Customers of the business include, or have included, Porsche, Ferrari, Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin.
In the last two years ST had struggled with the challenges of ramping up production and had burned through significant volumes of cash. However, as of the beginning this year it was showing signs of having put those struggles behind it.
Recent events also bring into question the repayment of a £13.2m ERDF loan from Liverpool City Region Combined Authority which it has already drawn down. It also owes around £400,000 from an earlier £1m Combined Authority loan.