Gardner Denver acquires Ohio manufacturer

Expands gas compression and vapor recovery market

Milwaukee-based Gardner Denver Holdings Inc. has acquired Sidney, Ohio-based LeROI Compressors for about $20 million. The transaction was conducted with cash on hand.

CEO Vicente Reyal cheers as Gardner Denver leaders ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange May 12.

LeROI, which has 80 employees, manufactures gas compression equipment and solutions used in vapor recovery, biogas and other process and industrial applications. It is operated out of a 250,000-square-foot building and was based in Waukesha until it moved to Ohio in 1960. LeROI has been owned by several Fortune 500 companies beginning in the 1950s, and most recently was owned by Invensys Corp., before being purchased by a small group of stockholders, including president Richard Wall, in 2005.

Gardner Denver manufactures mission-critical flow control and compression equipment and aftermarket parts, and provides associated services. The company last month brought in about $781 million in its initial public offering, and rewarded most of its 6,100 employees with more than $100 million in stock. Gardner Denver has 37 manufacturing facilities and more than 30 service and repair centers across the world.

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The acquisition is expected to expand Gardner Denver’s gas compression and vapor recovery market, while bringing additional resources, including research and development and wider distribution, to LeROI. Gardner Denver’s Industrials segment will absorb LeROI, which will retain its Ohio operations.

“LeROI is a market-leading business with strong talent and excellent longstanding customer relationships,” said Vicente Reynal, chief executive officer of Gardner Denver. “This transaction is aligned with our strategy of leveraging core technologies and know-how to drive organic growth and build additional value at acquired companies. LeROI will provide mission-critical gas compression technologies and enable expansion of our product offering into new and attractive markets. We are thrilled to welcome the LeROI team to the Gardner Denver family.”

“This marks an exciting time for the LeROI business,” Wall said. “As part of Gardner Denver, LeROI will be better positioned than ever to continue to deliver service excellence to our customers and expand into new markets.”

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Gardner Denver was acquired by KKR in July 2013 for $3.74 billion. After the acquisition, former Bucyrus and current REV Group chief executive Tim Sullivan was named CEO. Sullivan helped move the company’s corporate headquarters from suburban Philadelphia to Milwaukee in 2014 before resigning.

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