Parker Hannifin Acquires Majority Stake in Kuroda Pneumatics
Parker Hannifin, the today announced it has acquired 70 percent of the shares of Japan-based Kuroda Pneumatics Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuroda Precision Industries Ltd. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Kuroda Pneumatics employs 150 people and had 2005 sales of approximately $50 million.
"This transaction strengthens Parker's automation business capabilities to better serve the Japanese marketplace," said Roger Sherrard, President of Parker's Automation Group. "The deepening relationship between Parker and Kuroda will provide a strong platform for growth in the region and build on our proven record of delivering customer value. This partnership also supports our longer term commitment to accelerating the company's growth in the Asia Pacific region overall."
"Parker is an ideal organization to help grow the Kuroda Pneumatics business throughout the region," said Tetsuya Maeda, President of Kuroda Precision Industries. "Their global sales team and distribution network are key strategic advantages that will aid in our continued success."
Kuroda Pneumatics is a unit of Kuroda Precision Industries Ltd. (Tokyo Stock Exchange: Code 7726), a company in which Parker holds a 33 percent stake. Kuroda Pneumatics manufactures high performance actuators, cylinders, valves, controls and other related products for a wide variety of industrial automation applications.
With annual sales exceeding $8 billion, Parker Hannifin is the world's leading diversified manufacturer of motion and control technologies and systems, providing precision-engineered solutions for a wide variety of commercial, mobile, industrial and aerospace markets. The company employs more than 50,000 people in 48 countries around the world. Parker has increased its annual dividends paid to shareholders for 49 consecutive years, among the top five longest-running dividend-increase records in the S&P 500 index.
Source: Parker Hannifin Corp
