Illinois company to acquire Grafton bearing manufacturer

Published March 30, 2009 - BizTimes Daily

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John Crane Inc., a division of global technology business Smiths Group, today announced it plans to acquire Orion Corp., a Grafton-based designer and manufacturer of hydrodynamic bearings for energy and general industrial markets.
Orion will complement and extend John Crane Bearing Technology, a Morton Grove, Ill.-based business unit formed following the acquisition of a German-based bearings firm in October 2007.
Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.
Orion designs and manufactures hydrodynamic bearings for high speed turbine, generator, compressor and gear drive applications for the power generation, oil and gas and general industrial markets. Orion reported sales of approximately $50 million for its 2008 fiscal year.
Operations at Orion will not change dramatically, said Andrew Martin, manager of marketing and communications for John Crane said. Orion's management and its more than 270 employees in Wisconsin and Columbus, Neb., have been retained.
"Little will be changing from day to day," Martin said. "And this will help extend them into other markets. We have more than 20 facilities around the world, and they’ll get a more global reach."
The two companies also have similar cultures and operating styles, which will make for an easy transition.
"They're just like John Crane," he said. "They have long-term employment with some people working there more than 30 years and have a solid reputation in the market. They make bearings instead of mechanical seals."
Paul Cox, president of John Crane, said, "This acquisition illustrates our strategy to develop market-leading product lines that can be grown using our extensive global sales and service network. Orion builds critical mass in John Crane's hydrodynamic bearing business and adds a manufacturing, sales and service base in North America to supplement our existing operations in Europe. This will establish John Crane as one of the leading manufacturers in the hydrodynamic bearings sector."
Orion was featured in a cover story of BizTimes Milwaukee last November.