Parker Hannifin buys MTS Automation

Cleveland, OH— Parker Hannifin Corp. announced April 11 that it has purchased MTS Automation division (New Ulm, MN) from MTS Systems Corp. for an undisclosed amount. As part of Parker’s Automation Group, MTS Automation will become part of Parker’s Compumotor division (Rohnert Park, CA). Parker reports that it expects this acquisition to be accretive to its earnings.

Founded as Custom Servo Motors in 1991, MTS Automation has annual revenues of approximately $25 million, and produces brushless motors, analog and digital amplifiers, digital and servo controllers, and linear motors. MTS Automation also provides customized automation solutions to original-equipment manufacturers. MTS Systems reports that its automation division’s fiscal year 2002 revenue was $23 million, and that it had a loss in 2002 as a result of significant restructuring and inventory write-off costs.

‘The custom motor business is one that we have admired for some time, so we’re very pleased to add this high-value technology to our portfolio,’ says Bob Bond, Parker Automation Group’s president. ‘The MTS product line complements our ability to be a leading automation-solution provider for a broad range of global machine builders. It expands our breadth of our product and channels to market, and enhances our ability to offer highly customized and innovative motion systems for premier customer service.’

Sidney Emery Jr., MTS’ chairman and CEO, adds that, ‘While our resizing efforts for the division were on track, we determined that the motor and amplifier business was no longer strategic to the overall direction of the company. Thus, divesting the division to a major market player results in a win-win situation for our customers, the automation division’s employees, Parker Hannifin and MTS. We will continue to focus on our core force and motion control products and markets, where we have solid market positions and a breadth of opportunities for profitable growth.’

Parker Automation markets products for motion-control, robotic and electromechanical applications, including controllers, servo and stepper drives, servo motors, CTC human-machine interfaces (HMI) and PC-based machine control produced by Compumotor.

Control Engineering Daily News DeskJim Montague, news editorjmontague@reedbusiness.com

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