Gardner Denver buys compressor maker CompAir

US compressor and vacuum products manufacturer Gardner Denver Inc has acquired UK compressor manufacturer CompAir for US$395 million in cash and assumed debt. The acquisition, announced on 21 July, will be completed in the final quarter of the year.

The acquisition includes all of CompAir's businesses, including its industrial compressors division, which makes the C range portable compressors that are popular in the rental and construction sectors.

"CompAir is an exciting strategic acquisition for Gardner Denver", said Barry L. Pennypacker, Gardner Denver's president and chief executive officer, "With more than three-quarters of CompAir's sales in Europe and Asia, this transaction extends the geographic availability of Gardner Denver's products and significantly enhances our channels of distribution to serve the global market.

"By blending the complementary product lines and geographical reach of CompAir and Gardner Denver, the combined business will be well positioned to take advantage of future growth opportunities for its products, services, and people."

Jeremy Sykes, managing director of CompAir UK, said; "This is a great opportunity for CompAir and is another important milestone in our long history. Being part of Gardner Denver gives us the capability to accelerate our future growth plans and to broaden our product offering to customers."

CompAir reported revenues of £265.1 million ($520 million) for the 12 months to 31 March, 200, with operating profit of £16.1 million ($32 million).

Mr Pennypacker said CompAir provided a solid platform for growth; "We believe there is more opportunity to grow the profitability of this business post-transaction through lean enterprise techniques, low cost country sourcing, and capturing integration synergies."

Gardner Denver had revenues of $1.9 billion in 2007, and has operations in 30 countries with 6200 staff worldwide.