K-Tron being acquired by Ind. casket maker
K-Tron International, a Pitman-based maker of conveyors and other material-handling equipment for industries, is being acquired by an Indiana-based company that makes caskets, the two companies announced today.
K-Tron International, a Pitman-based maker of conveyors and other material-handling equipment for industries, is being acquired by an Indiana-based company that makes caskets, the two companies announced today.
K-Tron shares gained more than 30 percent ($34.71) and were priced at $148.23 shortly after Nasdaq trading opened today.
Hillenbrand Inc. said it will pay $150 a share in cash, a 32 percent premium over K-Tron's Friday closing price of $113.52.
The aggregate purchase price will be about $435 million. After adjustments for debt and other factors, the net price is expected to be closer to $390 million, the companies said.
The companies said that they should close the deal at the end of March and that K-Tron's headquarters would remain in Pitman.
Robert E. Wisniewski, chief financial officer of K-Tron, said that K-Tron's approximately 650 employees would retain their jobs at the company's seven locations, which include Pitman and Broomall, as well as Switzerland and China.
K-Tron's operations fall into two main categories: manufacturer of size-reduction equipment, for reducing the size of such materials as coal, minerals, pulp and paper; and the manufacture of feeders and pneumatic conveying equipment.
Hillenbrand's main business, Batesville Casket, and K-Tron are expected to operate as separate business units.
Edward B. Cloues II, K-Tron's chairman and chief executive, will be named to the Hillenbrand board after the deal closes.
"Although K-Tron's products differ from ours, we are both manufacturing companies that share similar processes and core operational values," said Kenneth A. Camp, Hillenbrand's president and chief executive and himself a nature of Pitman. ". . . K-Tron has a strong track record of delivering superior financial performance and creating significant shareholder value."
Both boards have approved the merger.
Hillenbrand shares were priced at $19.22, down 26 cents, shortly after the New York Stock Exchange opened. - Roslyn Rudolph