SKF, G’teborg, Sweden, has acquired for $21 million 51% of the shares of the North American seals company Macrotech Polyseal Inc. As part of the agreement SKF will acquire the remaining 49% within three years. Macrotech is a leader in fluid power seals based on polyurethane (PU) technologies and engineered plastics (mainly PTFE – PolyTetraFluoroEthylene) for the industrial customers in the US market.
Macrotech is based in Salt Lake City, UT, with two factories and 397 employees. Yearly sales amount to approximately $33 million. The company’s product range includes injection molded PU hydraulic seals. The biggest customer segments are fluid power (mainly hydraulics) and process equipment. Some 95% of Macrotech’s customers are in North America.
This acquisition strengthens SKF’s position in industrial seals by bringing to the Group new products and new technologies. Geographically, SKF’s global organization will also be able to bring Macrotech’s products to markets outside North America. Macrotech will be part of SKF Sealing Solutions, a unit within the Automotive Division that is responsible for the development, manufacturing and sales of all seals within the Group, excluding the aerospace seals.
SKF has also been busy on the European front. SKF and the owners of the French company SNFA S.A.S have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for SKF to acquire SNFA. SNFA is a leading manufacturer of bearings for aerospace and machine tool applications. In 2004 SNFA sales were 73.1 million Euro ($90.7 million) with 700 employees. Slightly more than half of SNFA’s business is in aerospace.
SKF has also signed an agreement to acquire the remaining 50% of the Norwegian oil and gas services company RC DEI Norge AS from the AGR Group. The acquisition is subject to the approval of the Norwegian Competition Authority. SKF had previously 50% of the company through its subsidiary DEI, Aberdeen, Scotland, that SKF acquired in 1999. RC DEI has a turnover of approximately 12 MNOK and is located outside Stavanger, Norway.
SKF is a manufacturer of products, solutions and services in rolling bearings, seals, mechatronics, services and lubrication systems. SKF is headquartered in G’teborg, Sweden, and has 100 manufacturing sites and a network with 15,000 distributor locations all over the world. For its recent first-quarter results announcement, click here.
