Sturtevant-based Putzmeister America Inc. has acquired Allentown Equipment, a manufacturer of wet and dry process shotcrete equipment based in Allentown, Pa.
Putzmeister America is a wholly owned subsidiary of Germany’s Putzmeister GM. It designs and manufactures equipment to move concrete at job sites, including several types of pumps, booms and conveyors.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Emory & Co., a Milwaukee investment banking firm, advised Putzmeister in the acquisition.
Allentown’s name has been changed to Allentown Shotcrete Technology Inc. (AST), a subsidiary of Putzmeister America Inc. AST’s line of products were a good fit for Putzmeister because of the markets it deals with, said Dave Adams, president and chief executive officer of Putzmeister America.
“The company and the products of Allentown are similar to our core business,” he said. “However, they are specialized toward unique products like underground shotcreting and refractory furnace lining. These are markets that are new to us. For Putzmeister America, this gives us an entry into that market.”
Putzmeister America has about 470 employees. AST has about 25 employees in Pennsylvania. There are no plans to close the Pennsylvania facility or to merge it with Putzmeister’s operations in Sturtevant, Adams said.
“Our plan is to maintain that business as a stand-alone division,” he said.
Putzmeister’s revenues will be about flat for 2007, but it’s been on a growth streak in recent years. In 2006, the company broke its sales record for the second year in a row, Adams said, posting an approximate 15 percent increase.
Last year, Putzmeister completed the fifth expansion of its production facility and headquarters at 1733 90th St. in Sturtevant since it moved there in 1993 from California. The company now occupies about 193,000 square feet of space.
Workers are now finishing some site development improvements, Adams said, including a new boom testing area. The company purchased about 10 acres of land last year.
Next year, Putzmeister GM will celebrate its 50th anniversary, Adams said, and the company will hold celebrations in Germany and in Sturtevant.
