Crane Co. Acquires German Valve Manufacturer

Dec. 23, 2008
Krombach expands large-diameter valve line

Crane Co., a diversified manufacturer of industrial products, has paid $51 million for Friedrich Krombach GmbH & Co. KG Armaturenwerke and its affiliate Krombach International GmbH — a manufacturer of specialty valves for power, oil and gas, and chemical markets. Both companies are based in Kreuztal, Germany.

In addition to the cash price, Crane will assume approximately $18 million of debt.

Krombach has metalcasting, machining, and assembly plants in Slovenia and China, in addition to its headquarters in Germany.

Eric Fast, president and CEO of Crane, stated: "This acquisition will significantly strengthen and broaden our product offering in our global power and energy infrastructure business, particularly for larger diameter, highly-engineered valves.”

Crane manufactures engineered industrial products for aerospace, electronics, hydrocarbon processing, petrochemical, chemical, power generation, automated merchandising, transportation, and other markets.

Fast predicted the purchase would be “modestly accretive” to Crane’s 2009 net revenue.