Business briefs

Electrical Apparatus, Feb 2005 by Jones, Kevin

L&S Electric acquires Minneapolis firm

L&S Electric of Schofield, Wis., a motor repair service provider with thirteen locations serving the upper Midwest and Canada, recently bought Advanced Motor Services of Minneapolis. The acquisition allows L&S to offer a combination of services from a single source to customers throughout Minnesota, including manufacturers, utilities, and the rail transportation industry. In August of last year, L&S acquired Antec Motors Services of Mounds View, Minn., and has a third Minneapolis/St. Paul location in Ham Lake, Minn. Previous acquisitions include operations in Appleton, Germantown, and Sturtevant, Wis., and one in Menominee, Mich.

Transformer firm opens reclamation facility

Jerry's Electric of Colman, S.D., a remanufacturer of transformers and related products, recently opened a transformer reclamation facility at its Colman plant. The new 40,000-square-foot building allows the company to dispose of equipment that presents a risk of environmental liability. Jerry's Electric can perform infield reclamation and treats transformers that test at less than 50 ppm of PCB's. Types of equipment the company can handle for reclamation and disposal include pole- and pad-mount transformers, station-class transformers, regulators, capacitors, oil circuit breakers, reclosers, switchgear, bushings, arrestors, and lead cable.

Lincoln Electric to buy alloy manufacturer

Cleveland-based welding supplier Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc., recently announced its intention to buy the J.W. Harris Co., Inc., a privately owned brazing and soldering alloys manufacturer headquartered in Mason, Ohio. Founded in 1914, the J.W. Harris Co. has 335 employees at manufacturing plants in Ohio, Rhode Island, and Mexico, as well as an international distribution center in Spain. Sales for the fiscal year ended last Sept. 24 were about $100 million. Lincoln Electric's acquisition of J.W. Harris is subject to completion of due diligence, board approval of a share purchase agreement, and regulatory approval. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of this quarter.

Moeller's North American sales business sold

Moeller GmbH, a European supplier of low-voltage industrial components .and automation products, has sold the assets of its North American sales operation to John Hamm, a longtime executive in the controls industry. The new company will act as North American sales agent for Moeller, which is headquartered in Bonn, Germany. From headquarters in Houston and Toronto, the North American operation will continue to do business as Moeller Electric Corp. in the U.S. and as Moeller Electric Ltd. in Canada.

MGE in partnership with enclosure maker

MGE UPS Systems, Int., of Costa Mesa, Calif., manufacturer of power-protection devices for computer data centers, telecommunications, and industrial operations, recently entered an alliance with Wright Line LLC, a company in Worcester, Mass., that manufactures consoles and electronic and server enclosures and furniture for data and network operation centers. Both companies will now offer rack enclosures integrated with uninterruptible power supplies from a single source. The integrated enclosure systems will be supported by Wright Line's direct sales force of about 170 sales people along with 140 of MGE's.

Balmac moving to larger facilities

Balmac, Inc., a 29-year-old designer and manufacturer of vibration analysis, monitoring, and balancing instrumentation, is moving its corporate sales and manufacturing offices from Milliard, Ohio, to a new facility eight miles north of the old location. The move will permit the company to expand its sales, manufacturing, and service capacity. Balmac sells vibration meters, analyzers, monitors, switches, and balancing machines to the automotive, HVAC, pharmaceutical, medical, oil and gas, processing, and commercial automated buildings industries.

Bosch Rexroth buys Italian oil control group

Bosch Rexroth AG of Lohr, Germany, has acquired a majority of shares in oil Control Group SpA of Milan, Italy, a manufacturer of hydraulic cartridge valves and manifolds. Its oil Control, EDI System, oil Sistem, TARP, and LC Oleodinamica brands include such products as screw-in valves, control blocks, and small units. oil Control Group had 2003 sales of 113 million euros. It employs 900 people at production sites in the Modena and Reggio Emilia regions of Italy and at sales facilities in Europe and the U.S. In North America, the Bosch Group manufactures automotive original equipment and aftermarket products, power tools and accessories, security technology, packaging equipment, and household appliances.

Schneider gives to hurricane preparedness

Schneider Electric North American Operating Division, Palatine, 111., manufacturer of circuit protection and power distribution products, recently donated $20,000 to support hurricane preparedness efforts of Florida-area chapters of the American Red Cross. The presentation of the donation was made during the International Builders Show in Orlando Jan. 15.