Acquisition prompts Waukesha Foundry to change name
Waukesha Foundry Co. has changed its name to Waukesha Kramer Inc. and plans to nearly double its workforce.
The changes reflect Waukesha Foundry’s acquisition of Milwaukee-based Kramer International in January.
The majority of the estimated 100 employees at Kramer International’s foundry, 114 E. Pittsburgh Ave., will be transferred to Waukesha Foundry’s main production plant at 1300 Lincoln Ave., in Waukesha, company sources said.
Waukesha Kramer, which specializes in castings of corrosion- and heat-resistant metal alloys, is owned by the Facilitator Capital Fund, a Madison-based private equity fund.
"We’re moving the entire operation out to our main facility," said Todd Kurtz, senior sales correspondent at Waukesha Kramer. "The majority will be transferred. Some of the office staff already has moved. Some production (workers) have chosen not to move out here."
The addition of the Kramer International employees will essentially double Waukesha Foundry’s workforce. The combined company will add Kramer International’s customers to its client base, Kurtz said.
"We bought the business to increase our presence in the pump market," Kurtz said.
Waukesha Foundry acquired Kramer International from Atchison Casting Corp. of Atchison, Kan. Atchison has been having ongoing financial problems and is restructuring its debt and selling some of its divisions to raise capital.
The companies did not disclose the purchase price, although in a US Securities Exchange Commission filing, Atchison reported gaining $3.8 million from the sale of Kramer International’s assets and the assumption of liabilities by Waukesha Foundry.
For the first six months of its most recent fiscal year, Kramer International recorded net sales of $5.4 million and a net income loss of $618,000, according to the SEC filing.
May 30, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee
