NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. — Watts Water Technologies has acquired Dormont Manufacturing Co. in a stock purchase transaction.
Dormont's annual revenue for 2005 is expected to be $56.5 million. Under the terms of the purchase agreement, Watts will pay $94.5 million in cash to purchase all the outstanding stock of Dormont and the land in Export, Pa., on which Dormont's manufacturing facility is located, subject to a post-closing working capital adjustment. Watts intends to fund the transaction with borrowings under its credit facility and cash on hand, according to an announcement made by Patrick S. O'Keefe, Watts Water Technologies' CEO.
"Dormont Manufacturing Co. is a leading provider of flexible stainless steel connectors for natural and liquid propane gas connectors," O'Keefe said " Dormont is a leader in commercial food service applications with a significant portion of North American sales.
"Dormont also works with appliance OEMs to provide internal component assemblies and private-label gas connectors, which are sold under the OEM brand with the appliance in multiple leading retails chains. Dormont also supplies residential gas connectors through multiple trade channels and home-improvement retailers."
In 1946, Jerome Segal founded Dormont as a manufacturer of copper coils for water heaters. It also offered custom pipe and tube fabricated products as well as brass gas connectors.
Segal eventually replaced the brass in his company's connectors with a premium grade of stainless steel with increased strength and non-corrosive properties. In 1970, he invented the first flexible stainless steel gas appliance connector, the company said.
During the same time period, the McDonald's Corp. wanted to put its cooking equipment on wheels to allow for more sanitary cleaning practices. If the equipment could be easily moved, employees could clean under and behind large gas appliances. The problem was that gas appliance connectors were hard-piped, and it was not possible to move the equipment away from the main gas source.
McDonald's asked Segal to develop a gas connector that would be durable enough to withstand the rigors of a commercial kitchen, the company said. Working with engineers at Mc-Donald's and utilizing his existing flexible stainless steel technology, Segal invented the first quick-disconnect gas connector, the company said. He then authored the ANSI Standard (Z21.69) for this application and introduced it to the industry, the company said.
"Dormont provides us access to several new channels of distribution while allowing us to offer a broader product line to our existing professional contractor customer base," O'Keefe said.
Watts' operating companies include Watts Radiant, Watts Premier, Powers shower valves, Mueller Steam Specialty, Ames Fire & Waterworks, Febco, Flowmatic, Orion Fittings, PolyJet, Flo Safe, Alamo Water Refiners, Laboratory Enterprises, HF Scientific, Sea Tech, and subsidiaries in Canada and Europe.
More information is available online at www.wattswater.com