Hexcel Corporation announced today that it has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire all of the shares of Structil SA, a French producer and supplier of high-performance composites to the aerospace, defense and industrial markets.

Structil is a joint venture between Safran Ceramics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Safran, and Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (formerly Mitsubishi Rayon Corporation).

The proposed transaction is subject to review by relevant employee representative bodies and approval from the applicable French authorities. Assuming those reviews and approvals are successfully completed, the acquisition is expected to close in 2017.