Private-equity group Oakland Standard Co. purchased Midwest Manufacturing & Logistics, Minster, OH, from Nidec Minster Corp., a metal forming and machine tool builder that has operated as the in-house iron foundry to the holding company. The value of the acquisition was not announced.
The buyer will operate the foundry as a second location for its C.A. Lawton Co. gray and ductile iron foundry in De Pere, WI, that a producer of large-dimension castings and machined components for OEMs in the HVAC, municipal pump and valve, mining, and power generation industries.
The Minster, OH, foundry casts gray and ductile parts up to 45,000 lbs., which will nearly double the C.A. Lawton manufacturing capacity.
David Winch, Nidec Minster Corp. CEO, stated: “Since our founding in 1896, our ability to locally source high-quality parts has been extremely important to both our internal product as well as the external customers we serve. Over that same period, the metal forming industry and especially the foundry business has adapted to many changes. We believe that in today’s market, domestic production of these products and quality standards is best accomplished as a team – increasing available resources to serve customer needs as well as supply chain availability.
"We are very happy to have found this operational partner in The C.A. Lawton Company," he added.
Since January, Oakland Standard has acquired Temperform, a Novi, MI, foundry producing smaller (10 to 6,000 lbs.) steel and stainless-steel castings used in corrosive, high-temperature applications; and Damascus Steel Casting, New Brighton, PA, a producer of high-performance steel castings.
These business have maintained their brand names as part of Oakland Standard's specialty metals platform.
Alex Lawton, CEO of the specialty metals platform (includes The C.A. Lawton Co., Temperform, LLC, and Damascus Steel Casting Company), will lead the integration of the businesses and management teams. He says,
"The combination of The C.A. Lawton Co. and Midwest Manufacturing & Logistics creates a unique powerhouse in the gray iron space," stated CEO Alex Lawton. "Together we have literally hundreds of years of history coupled with modern approaches to meeting metalcasting needs. Couple that with the rest of the partners on the steel side of our platform and we are indeed crafting the premier supplier-partner where reliability meets flexibility.”