Coffin maker acquires K-Tron International

Hillenbrand, Inc., Batesville, IN, the parent company of the Batesville Casket Co., has acquired auxiliary equipment supplier K-Tron International, Inc., Pitman, NJ, for USD $150 per share in a USD $435 million deal (CDN $462.3 million). The purchase price represents a 32.1 per cent premium over the closing price of K-Tron’s stock on January 8, 2010. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of March.

K-Tron, which makes feeders, pneumatic conveyors and blenders for compounding and extrusion, will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Hillenbrand. Edward B. Cloues II, K-Tron’s chairman and chief executive officer, will be appointed to the Hillenbrand board when the merger is completed. K-Tron’s headquarters will remain in New Jersey.

“We are delighted that K-Tron will be joining the Hillenbrand family of companies,” said Kenneth A. Camp, Hillenbrand’s president and chief executive officer in a release. “Although K-Tron’s products differ from ours, we are both manufacturing companies that share similar processes and core operational values. Like our Batesville Casket business, the K-Tron operating companies are leaders in their industries and have highly effective executive management teams. K-Tron has a strong track record of delivering superior financial performance and creating significant shareholder value.” 

“Hillenbrand and Batesville Casket represent a long tradition of manufacturing and distribution excellence, and K-Tron’s board and management team are excited to combine our own high-performing people, products and services with Hillenbrand’s,” said Cloues.

The merger is the second deal in recent weeks between a company in the plastics sector and one from a wholly unrelated industry. In December, Vancouver-based Planet Green Bottle Corp. used a reverse merger with Imagin Molecular Corp., a medical imaging company, as a vehicle to go public.

K-Tron  

Hillenbrand