Hardinge to acquire Forkardt workholding range

Forkardt includes companies that are leading global providers of high precision, speciality and customised workholding devices for machine tools. Headquartered and with manufacturing operations in Traverse City, Michigan, it also has operations in France, Germany, and Switzerland. "Our acquisition of Forkardt will strengthen and expand our leadership position in specialty workholding solutions around the world," said Richard L. Simons, chairman, president and CEO of Hardinge. "Our strategy is to diversify our product offerings in workholding, accessories and spare parts as a means of reducing the impact of the highly cyclical nature of machine tool sales. These products tend to be more stable, despite economic cycles, and typically also have higher margins. Historically, accessories and repair parts have averaged around 22% to 25% of our total revenue. On a pro-forma basis, we expect this product line to represent more than 30% of our business." Forkardt's revenues in 2012 were $47 million. Forkardt was established in Germany in 1923 by Paul Forkardt, as a manufacturer of chucks. Forkardt merged with ITW Workholding, a North American manufacturer of workholding devices, in 2004. It has become a global leader in innovation, design and manufacture of high precision, high quality, speciality and custom-designed rotating workholding devices for machine tools. Legacy brands include: Forkardt; NA Woodworth; Buck Chuck; Sheffler Collet; and Logansport Cylinder. The design, manufacturing, sales, and distribution of Forkardt products will be separate from Hardinge's machine tool manufacturing operations and sales. According to Mr Simons: "We believe the separation of management and operations of Forkardt products from the manufacture and sales of machines ensures the segregation of focus and information flow, as should be expected by the machine tool manufacturers who buy Forkardt products for use on their brands." In conclusion, he said: "Global machine tool consumption is expected to expand by approximately 35% in the next four years, driven by China's developing economy, according to the Oxford Economic Group. We are confident that our accessory products have an excellent opportunity to participate in that growth, where our workholding presence is minimal. We expect that, through continued product innovation, quality products and timely deliveries, we can gain global market share for our products. We believe there will also be opportunities for other relatively small, add-on acquisitions that will be available from time-to-time to expand this product line."