Conveyor vendor Dorner Manufacturing Corp. is preparing for continued growth in the hot sectors of supply chain automation and e-commerce material handling after it was sold by its private equity owner for $485 million earlier this month to material handling firm Columbus McKinnon Corp.

According to Dorner’s current owner, EQT Private Equity, the deal is expected to close in the second quarter, subject to standard conditions. EQT had bought Dorner in 2017 from its previous owner, Incline Equity Partners, for an undisclosed sum.

Following the March 1 sale, Hartland, Wisconsin-based Dorner said its management team will remain intact and the company will continue as an operating unit of Columbus McKinnon, which is a Buffalo, New York-based provider of intelligent motion solutions for lifting, moving, and positioning materials. 

For Columbus McKinnon, the deal deepens its reach into “strong secular growth markets” including food processing, life sciences, consumer packaged goods, e-commerce, and industrial automation.

“The acquisition of Dorner provides a catalyst for growth in extremely attractive markets and begins the process of reimagining the future of Columbus McKinnon. Dorner advances our strategy to broaden expertise in intelligent motion solutions for material handling, provides access to high-growth secular markets, and strengthens our earnings power,” Columbus McKinnon’s president and CEO, David J. Wilson, said in a release.

The company sees Dorner as a “market leader” in the nearly $5 billion global specialty conveyor market that has outgrown its competitors. Dorner’s 12% compound annual growth rate over the last five years outpaced the industry growth rate of approximately 6% to 8%, Columbus McKinnon said.

Looking into the future, Columbus McKinnon said it expected Dorner to produce fiscal 2021 revenue of approximately $125 million for the year ending September 30. And further down the road, adding Dorner will accelerate Columbus McKinnon’s shift to intelligent motion and serve as a platform to expand its capabilities in advanced, higher technology automation solutions by supporting “complementary adjacencies” such as sortation and asynchronous conveyance, the company said.

In a release, Dorner said that arrangement will strengthen its automation capabilities and enhance opportunities for new product platforms and new market penetration.

“Dorner operates at the forefront of the automation revolution and is supporting industries undergoing rapid growth and transformation, such as e-commerce and life sciences,” EQT Partner and Investment Advisor Kasper Knokgaard said in a release. “The company exemplifies EQT’s thematic approach to investments within the industrial technology sector and is a market leader in the highly attractive automation subsector.”

Dorner also provides conveyor products to customers in food & beverage, industrial automation, packaging, and consumer packaged goods (CPG), leveraging its manufacturing facilities in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia and its staff of approximately 400 employees worldwide.

We are happy to announce that Dorner has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Columbus McKinnon (CMCO); a global leader in intelligent motion solutions, products technologies and services for lifting, moving and positioning materials. Read More at: https://t.co/VH1JyBbVnc pic.twitter.com/LEiEcYi0bk

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