SKF Group acquires Ann Arbor-based Kaydon in $1.25 billion deal
Swedish bearings maker SKF Group finalized a deal Thursday to buy Ann Arbor-based Kaydon Corporation in a $1.25 billion deal.
SKF, the world’s biggest bearings maker, said the deal includes $95 million of net debt and will be paid with cash on hand. The terms of the agreement call for SKF to pay $35.50 per share for Kaydon.
SKF CEO Tom Johnstone released the following statement about the deal:
We have followed the development of Kaydon for a long time. They have a strong product portfolio, strong management and a solid financial performance and I am delighted that they will soon be part of the SKF Group. The complementary nature of their products and technologies, their geographical and customer presence and their manufacturing footprint will enable us to even better serve our customers and distributors in the industrial market worldwide.
SKF has more than 46,000 employees across 130 countries. The company was founded in 1907.
Headquartered at 2723 S. State St., just north of Eisenhower Parkway, Kaydon employs about 2,100 employees and has plants in Muskegon, South Carolina, Ohio and Mexico. The company designs and manufacturers products such as bearings, safety shock absorbers, velocity controls, gas springs and rotary dampers.
Kaydon's sales totaled $475 million in 2012, and $117.3 million in the second quarter of 2013.
"We believe that this transaction represents an excellent strategic fit for Kaydon that will allow our market leading businesses to accelerate their growth strategies by joining forces with SKF, a global industry leader," Kaydon CEO James O’Leary said in a statement.
The agreement was unanimously approved by both companies’ Board of Directors and the deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
Lizzy Alfs is a business reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2584 or email her at lizzyalfs@annarbor.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lizzyalfs.
Comments
Lucky123
Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 12:30 a.m.
Kudos to Brandon & O'Leary, two of the largest Kaydon shareholders. As a Kaydon Employee, I personally lost tens of thousands of dollars in salary and bonuses that were promised to me as a hiring condition of employment.I have witnessed draconian head slashing in order to improve ROI for the shareholders, ironically Brandon & O'Leary. Nothing is more sickening than having your pocket picked by rich bastards wanting to get richer at an hourly workers expense. GREED! How can you guys sleep at night?
sttc
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 8:18 p.m.
yet another michigan-based company selling out to non-local ownership :( why does this state have such a poor record for retention of corporate headquarters? were it not for the big three, i don't think we'd have a single fortune 500 company headquartered here. so much for all ricky's giveaways to big business...
johnnya2
Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 2:37 a.m.
Huh? State Rank ? Company Fortune 500 rank City Revenues ($ millions) 1 General Motors 5 Detroit 150,276.0 2 Ford Motor 9 Dearborn 136,264.0 3 Dow Chemical 47 Midland 59,985.0 4 Whirlpool 147 Benton Harbor 18,666.0 5 TRW Automotive Holdings 161 Livonia 16,244.0 6 Lear 189 Southfield 14,156.5 7 Ally Financial 201 Detroit 13,642.0 8 Kellogg 205 Battle Creek 13,198.0 9 Penske Automotive Group 222 Bloomfield Hills 11,869.5 10 DTE Energy 287 Detroit 8,897.0 11 Stryker 308 Kalamazoo 8,307.0 12 Autoliv 313 Auburn Hills 8,232.4 13 Visteon 321 Van Buren Township 8,047.0 14 Masco 338 Taylor 7,560.0 15 BorgWarner 355 Auburn Hills 7,114.7 16 CMS Energy 380 Jackson 6,503.0 17 Auto-Owners Insurance 429 Lansing 5,709.5 18 Kelly Services 441 Troy 5,551.0 19 Con-way 459 Ann Arbor 5,290.0 20 Meritor 481 Troy 4,990.0 Here are 20 companies based in Michigan in the Fortune 500. Two seconds of research might have given you that education
Steve Bean
Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 12:05 a.m.
Having lost corporate headquarters in advance of the deflationary wave that's underway is actually a positive. As for the shareholders, their wealth will only be realized when they sell their shares, and those shares will be dropping greatly in value for the next few years. Only those who cash out in the next six months or so are likely to net a positive return relative to any time in the last 15 years.
Lizzy Alfs
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 8:23 p.m.
That's a great point @sttc, and I actually wrote a story about it earlier this year. http://www.annarbor.com/business-review/does-washtenaw-county-need-to-attract-more-corporate-headquarters/ From that story: "Washtenaw County's corporate headquarters sector — defined as the "management of companies and enterprises" — has declined 76 percent since 1999, according to a recent economic forecast conducted by U-M's George Fulton and Donald Grimes."
aduggs
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 7:09 p.m.
Would sure like to visit "South Caroline" one day, but couldn't find it on a map.
Lizzy Alfs
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 7:23 p.m.
Probably not on a map, but it is my roommate's name! The mistake has been corrected.
AA Neighbor
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 4:21 p.m.
Another sell out to global capitalism a la Pfizer. Next they'll be putting Chinese chicken on your global pizza.
JimmyD
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 6:35 p.m.
You could use some creativity, hard work and your own money to start a company that becomes a global success. Or you could just whine.
anonymous
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 5:39 p.m.
huh?
Kai Petainen
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 4:20 p.m.
Brandon has 12,956 shares of Kaydon. Yesterday that was worth $374,428 Today it's worth $459,938 He made $85,510 today.
johnnya2
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 5 p.m.
In 2011, he made over $139k as a director at Kayden alone. He made over $s million as CEO of Domino's. I would also suggest every other stock holder made that exact per share Many of those shares are held by EMPLOYEES who take part in the Stock Incentive Plan. So I guess those employees must really hate a guy who increased the value of their portfolio by almost 23% OVERNIGHT. What a horrible person he is
Kellie Woodhouse
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 4:27 p.m.
Not bad. Thanks for sharing Kai.
Kai Petainen
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 4:16 p.m.
Wow! Congrats to David Brandon. First the big donation yesterday and now this. (He's a director at Kaydon)
Lizzy Alfs
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3:04 p.m.
At this point it's unclear whether this will affect local employment. I have reached out to Kaydon representatives to talk more about the Ann Arbor impact, the operations here and how many people are employed locally.
Kellie Woodhouse
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 4:03 p.m.
That's the nice thing about the online format, we can give readers initial information and then follow-up as more details are made available.
DonBee
Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3:01 p.m.
Ms. Alfs - It would be nice to know the number of people in the Ann Arbor location and what their functions are, as well as if any promises were made to the local staff about jobs. Right now this looks like a recast press release.