Teleflex to sell off industrial businesses

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, October, 2007 | by Harold Brubaker Inquirer Staff Writer

Teleflex Inc. said yesterday that it had reached an agreement to sell industrial businesses that accounted for nearly a third of its 2006 revenue.

The move accelerates the Limerick company's shift toward higher-margin medical-device operations, which expanded dramatically with the purchase two weeks ago of Arrow International Inc.

In yesterday's announcement, Teleflex said Kongsberg Automotive Holding ASA, of Norway, would pay $560 million for businesses whose products include gear-shift systems and seat controls for cars, driver controls for construction equipment, cable systems for lawn mowers, and automotive hoses.

Those businesses generate about $855 million in annual revenue and employ more than 8,000 at 34 factories worldwide, Teleflex said. At the end of...