Hitachi Acquires Compressor Manufacturer Sullair from Accudyne Industries
Tokyo-based Hitachi Ltd. has agreed to acquire Sullair Air Compressors from its parent company Accudyne Industries for $1.245 billion. Hitachi said its goal in the acquisition is to gain access to Sullair’s global sales network, primarily in North America.
Hitachi said it will accelerate the global rollout of its Social Innovation Business by providing Sullair’s customer base with digital solutions or IoT-compatible products that leverage the expertise in IT and operational technology that Hitachi has been cultivating.
In an effort to establish a strong product business that meets a broad range of industrial needs, Hitachi has been developing the product business through its Industrial Products Business Unit and Industrial Equipment Systems Co., which handles small- or medium-sized industrial products. Air compressors have been positioned as a core business, in which Hitachi provides products mainly in Japan and Asia. Hitachi plans to add its products to Sullair’s complementary product lineup and utilize the global sales network Sullair has established, mainly in North America, and increase the scale of the air compressor business.
Founded in 1965, Sullair has been selling its air compressor products globally, with a strong sales network and customer base particularly in North America.
“I am very pleased to announce that Hitachi has today agreed with Accudyne to proceed with the acquisition of Sullair, a leader in the air compressor business,” said Masakazu Aoki, executive vice president at Hitachi and CEO of the Industrial Products Business Unit. “Through this fusion with Sullair’s strengths, Hitachi will increase its competitiveness and strengthen the air compressor business, and, at the same time, by utilizing Sullair’s global footprint, mainly in North America, we will accelerate the global rollout of the Social Innovation Business.”
“The combination represents a uniquely attractive opportunity for Sullair, its employees, distributor partners and end-customers,” said Charles Treadway, CEO of Accudyne.
“We are thrilled by the prospect of partnering with Hitachi to grow Sullair as we embark together on the next chapter in our proud history,” added Jack Carlson, Sullair president.
The purchase price is subject to certain customary adjustments at the effective date of the transaction.
Sullair is headquartered in Michigan City, Ind., and has additional manufacturing facilities in Shenzhen and Suzhou, China, and Mahindra World City, India.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.