Ceradyne Inc. (USA; Nasdaq: CRDN) has acquired the rights to a patented downhole oil drilling rig bearing and will begin manufacturing it in Lexington, Kentucky.

Ceradyne bought the rights from KMC Inc. / KMC Bearings, a privately owned business in Greenwich, Rhode Island, paying USD $4 million and 3% royalty going forward.

Russell Ide, the bearing's developer and founder of KMC, will join Ceradyne to oversee the related organization. Mr. Ide has several hundred patents to his credit.

The downhole bearing is a specialty type of "stacked" bearing, utilizing silicon carbide from Ceradyne.

Ceradyne said: "The bearing is anticipated to be rapidly accepted due to the reduction of drilling downtime. Two other energy-related product lines will go into coalbed methane pumps and steam-assisted oil extraction pumps."

The new product line and Mr. Ide will become part of Ceradyne Advanced Ceramic Operations.

Thomas Cole, Ceradyne VP of Business Development, said: "We are very pleased to have acquired this technology as it fits the Ceradyne vertical integration model very well. Through a unique design and the use of our erosion and corrosion-resistant silicon carbide ceramic, we believe this oil drilling product will rapidly become the new state-of-the-art for oil drilling bearings."

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