Oakland Standard Co. has acquired another iron foundry to expand the “business platform” it began assembling last year with Wisconsin-based C.A. Lawton Co. as the central location and nameplate for what now are five operations. The new addition is Penn-Mar Castings in Hanover, PA, a producer of multi-cored gray- and ductile-iron castings from 150 to 150,000 lbs.
No price was reported for the purchase. Oakland Standard is a private-equity firm. Its other holdings include distributor Motor City Industrial and automation designer/integrator Oakland Automation.
Alex Lawton, CEO of C.A. Lawton Co., said “the addition of Penn-Mar Castings to our platform and especially the Iron Group creates a truly next-level offering. The combination with The C.A. Lawton Co. and its De Pere, WI and Minster, OH operations provides a combination of scope and reliability that will be valued by many.”
The C.A. Lawton Co., De Pere, WI, foundry produces gray and ductile-iron castings (500-20,000 lbs.) and machined components. In December 2019 Oakland Standard added Temperform, a Novi, MI, foundry producing smaller (10 to 6,000 lbs.) steel and stainless-steel castings used in corrosive, high-temperature applications.
In April, it added to the portfolio, Damascus Steel Casting, New Brighton, PA, a producer of high-performance steel castings.
In July 2020, Oakland Standard purchased Midwest Manufacturing & Logistics, Minster, OH, from Nidec Minster Corp., a metal forming and machine tool builder that had operated the plant as an in-house iron foundry. Like the Wisconsin plant, it also casts gray and ductile iron for large-dimension castings up to 45,000 lbs., for HVAC, municipal pump and valve, mining, and power generation industries.
Penn-Mar Castings uses an air-set, no-bake molding process for castings supplied to refrigeration/air conditioning, pump/compressor, and motor/generator manufacturers.