John Crane Buys US Bearings Company

John Crane, a division of global technology business Smiths Group, today announces the purchase of the business and assets of Turbo Components and Engineering Inc. (TCE) which services, repairs and builds replacement bearings and seals used in critical rotating equipment. The cash-funded acquisition from TCE is subject to regulatory approval.

The main customers of the Houston-based company include refineries, chemical plants and power producers. TCE has a gross asset value of approximately $3.2 million and sales of around $10 million are forecast for the current calendar year. The purchase price was not disclosed.

The acquisition underlines the continued expansion of John Crane’s range of solutions for high-performance rotating equipment, which includes other product areas such as mechanical seals and support systems, specialised filtration equipment and power transmission couplings.

Paul Cox, President of John Crane, said: "TCE adds capability for servicing bearings to our growing aftermarket platform, creating an end-to-end product and service solution for our customers. This provision of more technically differentiated solutions will improve both the scale and overall profitability of the bearings product line in the immediate future."

TCE also fits John Crane's stated strategy of broadening its addressable market, utilising the core competencies within its global and local sales and service infrastructure. It will become part of John Crane Bearings Technology, formed following the acquisitions of Sartorius Bearing Technology in October 2007 and Orion Corporation in May 2009.