ONE of Hereford's biggest employers has been sold in a deal worth more than £300million.

The American company Special Metals Corporation (SMC), which owns Special Metals Wiggin, was bought by another US firm, Precision Castparts Corp, for $540million (£302million) last Friday.

Precision Castparts Corp, which is based in Portland, Oregon, agreed to take on Special Metals' outstanding debt as part of the takeover deal.

Special Metals Wiggin personnel manager Robert Hunt said there were no plans to change employment levels at the Holmer Road firm as a consequence of the deal and Ray Stone, Hereford director of operations for SMC, welcomed the sale.

"I believe this is an excellent opportunity for both Special Metals Corporation and the Wiggin plant in Hereford," he said.

"We have made tremendous progress in improving our business performance during the past two years and this acquisition will help us move to the next level of performance in our drive to become the global supplier of choice."

Mark Donegan, chairman and chief executive officer of Precision Castparts Corps, said he thought the takeover would increase the workload of SMC.

"As the leading user of premium-grade nickel in the world, we can see significant top and bottom line benefits through increasing SMC's volume, improving their yields and decreasing the overall lead time to the market place," he said.