05 Sep 05. Donaldson Filters was recently selected by Industry Week magazine as one of the 50 top performers among the largest 500 publicly held manufacturing companies headquartered in the U.S. The criteria used in this selection process included three year revenue and profit growth, inventory turns and return on equity. This year’s Top 50 includes companies such as 3M, Dell, Paccar and Western Digital so we are in some very good company. Donaldson has received similar awards in the past and we know given our track record that we are in a pretty select group. However, it is always great to receive additional recognition such as this because it helps to reaffirm what and why we do what we do.
26 Aug 05. Bid War Intensifies for U.K. Filter Maker. The bid battle for Britain’s Domnick Hunter intensified on Friday, as two U.S. engineering companies sought to take over the filter maker, which has a burgeoning business protecting against biochemical weapons. U.S. engineer Eaton launched a £242m ($436m) counter-bid for Hunter, topping a rival £232m offer by Parker Hannifin. The bulk of Domnick Hunter’s business is making filters for the food, drinks, drugs and compressed gases industries, but it is also making inroads into the lucrative defense industry with Nuclear Biological Chemical (NBC) protection systems. “Part of the premium is due to its exposure to the military and defense industries,” said analyst Gary Murphy at Williams de Broe. Its NBC systems protect military and diplomatic vehicles and buildings from a range of contaminants such as nuclear particles, nerve agents like Sarin and bacteria like Anthrax. Domnick Hunter shares rose 3.4 percent to 696 pence, valuing the group at around £248m. (Source: PETE HARRISON, Defense News, LONDON)
Comment: A source close to BATTLESPACE suggests that Eaton may be offering too much money and that but it’s going to take Eaton (or Parker) a long time to get a return on their investment; previous acquisitions in the same market indicate this suggested high price. Parker has made too many acquisitions in the past 4/5 years and they appear to be slow on capitalising on what they have acquired, some of the brands they have acquired have dropped rapidly from being good brands to average brands, UCC is a good example.