Incorporated: 1910 as American Grinder and Manufacturing Company
NAIC: 326199 All Other Plastics Product Manufacturing; 332439 Other Metal Container Manufacturing; 332999 All Other Miscellaneous Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing; 335999 All Other Miscellaneous Electrical Equipment and Component Manufacturing; 326291 Rubber Product Manufacturing for Mechanical Use; 332912 Fluid Power Valve and Hose Fitting Manufacturing; 333515 Cutting Tool and Machine Tool Accessory Manufacturing; 333995 Fluid Power Cylinder and Actuator Manufacturing; 333996 Fluid Power Pump and Motor Manufacturing; 336399 All Other Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing; 336413 Other Aircraft Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing
SIC: 3412 Metal Barrels, Drums & Pails; 3499 Fabricated Metal Products Nec; 3629 Electrical Industrial Apparatus Nec; 3699 Electrical Equipment & Supplies Nec; 3061 Mechanical Rubber Goods; 3492 Fluid Power Valves & Hose Fittings; 3545 Machine Tool Accessories; 3593 Fluid Power Cylinders & Actuators; 3594 Fluid Power Pumps & Motors; 3714 Motor Vehicle Parts & Accessories; 3728 Aircraft Parts & Equipment Nec
Actuant Corporation is a global manufacturer of niche consumer and industrial products. Originally part of Applied Power Inc., Actuant was known as APW Industrial until the 2000 spinoff that separated the industrial business from APW Electronics Ltd., a maker of electronics enclosures. Actuant possesses a large stable of brand names, including Acme Electric, Enerpac, Kwikee, Milwaukee Cylinder, Gardner Bender, and Power-Packer. The company has manufacturing operations in the United States, Europe, and Asia and has grown its international distribution through acquisitions. Nearly half of its sales were coming from outside the United States by 2007. Europe was its second largest market, accounting for 39 percent of its business. Key markets are tools for do-it-yourselfers, bolting products for the energy industry, convertible tops and recreational vehicle (RV) products, and electrical components for the boating industry.
Early History: Hand Tools and Engine Pumps
The company that would one day be known as Actuant Corporation was founded in 1910 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company got its start as American Grinder and Manufacturing Company, a producer of hand grinders that sharpened tools used in agriculture and other fields. The company's advertisements claimed that its products were suitable for use in "Ship Yards, Construction Work, Lumber Camps, Mining and Engineering, Signal and Line Repair Work, Machine Shops, Garages, etc." When the United States entered World War I, American Grinder began to manufacture water and oil pumps for use in engines that powered trucks and other military vehicles. At the end of the war, the company decided to continue its manufacture of these products, offering them to the general automotive market that was then beginning to take root and grow.
By the end of its first decade, American Grinder had expanded its line to include hand tools as well as pumps, a move made at the behest of the company's distributor. For this new line, American Grinder chose the trade name "Blackhawk," in reference to the Blackhawk Army Division, which had fought with distinction in World War I. The line's logo featured an arrowhead with the silhouette of an Indian and the slogan "Service, Quality, Finish." Many of the tools sold, such as sets of socket wrenches in different sizes, were designed for use in automobile repairs.
Blackhawk Reputation Grows
After American Grinder chose to call its engine pumps and mechanic's tools Blackhawk, this trade name began to establish a reputation in the automotive field. In 1925 American Grinder officially changed its company name to Blackhawk, and, shortly thereafter, the company sold its line of tool grinders, as it reoriented itself toward the automobile industry. Eventually, however, Blackhawk water pumps were made obsolete, as car manufacturers began to include this equipment in their vehicles as a matter of course.
After discontinuing its pump operations, Blackhawk sought out a replacement business. In 1927 the company purchased a small hydraulic jack manufacturer, the Hydraulic Tool Company, in Los Angeles, California, which fit the bill. After acquiring these operations, Blackhawk marketed the Hydraulic Tool Company's products under the Blackhawk trade name.
As Blackhawk grew, its products gained a wider reputation, and its trade name became known across the country. In the late 1920s, Blackhawk expanded its line further when a snowplow manufacturer asked the company to help it develop a hydraulic pump to replace the hand winch then used to raise and lower the plow. In response to this request, Blackhawk developed a hydraulic system, made up of a hand pump, a long bending hose, and a hydraulic cylinder, which it marketed under the name Power-Packer. This line was soon expanded to include other remote-control hydraulic systems for use in different kinds of equipment. By the end of the 1920s, the company's logo--placed on its expanded line of products--had evolved to feature an Indian's profile in a large feathered headdress, placed inside an abstract representation of an arrowhead.
In the mid-1930s Blackhawk further expanded its product offerings when it used the technology developed for use in snow plows to make products for the collision repair market. Calling this line "Porto-Power," Blackhawk marketed hydraulic tools to be used in repairing auto bodies. The Porto-Power line featured a set of pumps and cylinders, with a variety of attachments that could be used to perform different pulling, pushing, and straightening tasks to fix damaged cars. In the late 1930s, Blackhawk marketed its Porto-Power line of products to a wider pool of customers, offering them for use in industrial and construction fields, through various distributors. The company tailored its products to different tasks and industries, creating special pumps and cylinders that could be used as building blocks for different applications.
International Expansion in the Postwar Era
In 1955 Blackhawk sold its original line of hand tools, as its business evolved away from that area into more complicated systems. Late in that decade, the company decided to further restructure itself to provide more definition for each of its different parts. The two lines of products, Blackhawk and Power-Packer, became separate business units within the company. In 1960 the company's industrial and construction lines were set apart and given the name Enerpac in an effort to strengthen their identity within their respective markets.
Also in 1960, Blackhawk began an effort to expand its markets beyond the borders of the United States. Although its products had long been sold in other countries through importers and distributors, Blackhawk began to set up its own direct overseas operations, to both sell and manufacture goods. Its first targets for growth were the United Kingdom and continental Europe.
Blackhawk Expands Under New Name
In 1961 Blackhawk changed its corporate name to Applied Power Industries, Inc., in an effort to better reflect the different aspects of its operations. In the 1960s the company expanded through acquisitions of other companies in its field. In January 1966 it bought Rivett, Inc., and two years later, Applied Power purchased Branick Manufacturing, Inc. In 1969 the company acquired the Big Four division of the Studebaker Company. In May 1970 Applied Power added the operations of the Bear Manufacturing Company, and later that year, the company added another business unit to its corporate profile, taking over the Marquette Corporation. This company was a maker of diagnostic systems and service equipment, including products designed especially for use with batteries, for automobiles.
Also in 1970, Applied Power increased its geographical scope further when it opened a subsidiary in the Netherlands. This trend continued the following year, when Applied Power made a number of purchases that increased its international holdings. The company acquired Bear Equipment & Services, Ltd., of Scarborough, Canada, and renamed it Applied Power Automotive Canada, Ltd. In addition, Applied Power bought 80 percent of two French companies, Matairco, which eventually became a separate business unit of its parent company, and Société-Hydro-Air S.a.r.L. Three years later, Applied Power increased its stake in these properties to 100 percent.
Applied Power Industries became Applied Power Inc. in January 1973. Following the simplification of its name, Applied Power also streamlined its corporate structure and operations, shedding businesses that did not fit with its larger corporate identity, or that were not as profitable as others. In 1975 the company sold Hydralique Gury S.A. to a group of French investors for $2.1 million. Five years later, the company divested itself of its Bear Wheel Service and Marquette Engine Diagnostic Equipment Product Lines, reaping $8 million.
In 1981 Applied Power added another major brand group when it purchased Electro-Flo, Inc. This company supplemented Applied Power's Power-Packer unit in providing specialized hydraulic products for use in the manufacture of other kinds of heavy equipment. Electro-Flo used electronic controls of hydraulic systems to enable precise movement and positioning of machinery. Electro-Flo technology, which included microprocessors, flow control valves, and electronic sensors, was used in the precise laying of asphalt by road-reconditioning equipment and in the movement of booms on materials-handling machinery.
Acquisitions for Growth
By 1985, Applied Power's 75th year in business, the company had become a solid operation closely held by the members of its founding family. Lacking new blood, however, the company had begun to stagnate. While its operations returned a steady profit, the company had ceased growing. In an effort to remedy this situation and increase Applied Power's financial returns, company leaders brought an outside executive aboard, hiring Richard G. Sim, a former General Electric Company executive, as president and CEO.
Among the first steps taken in the mid-1980s were a series of acquisitions. The company bought the half of the Toyo Hydraulic Equipment Company which it did not already own and also added Electro-Hydraulic Controls, Inc., for which it paid $2.6 million in cash. In 1986 Applied Power divested itself of one of its core businesses--and the line of products with the longest heritage of any made by the company--when it sold its Blackhawk automotive division to the Hein-Werner Company for $9.3 million. One year later, in August 1987, the newly defined Applied Power offered stock to the public for the first time, tendering 1.8 million shares, which traded on the NASDAQ. With the proceeds from this sale, the company moved to reduce part of the debt it had amassed through its long string of acquisitions. At the end of 1987, Applied Power reported a loss of $1.6 million.
In 1988 Applied Power returned to its roots, reentering the field that had launched the company decades before, when it purchased a manufacturer of hand tools, Garner-Bender, Inc., for $31.4 million. This company was subsequently renamed GB Electrical, Inc.
The next year, Applied Power made its most ambitious purchase to date, when it engineered the hostile takeover of the Barry Wright Corporation for $147 million. This purchase doubled the size of Allied Power and increased its debt sixfold. Barry Wright, an ailing manufacturer based in Watertown, Massachusetts, made equipment for use in computer rooms and devices that controlled vibration. The company's earnings had dropped in the previous year from $8.4 million to $1.3 million as sales stagnated. Applied Power's executives hoped that their acquisition could come to dominate certain niche markets profitably. Such previous successes helped Applied Power post sales of $245 million in 1989, up from $100 million just four years earlier.
Restructuring for Stability
In integrating Barry Wright with the rest of its operations, Applied Power faced a challenging task--it sought to streamline Barry Wright's product line and cut its manufacturing costs. The first of the new acquisition's units to face the ax was Barry Wright's Wright Line division, a maker of furnishings and enclosures for technical environments. Applied Power attempted to sell this business in 1992, taking a $25 million write-down charge, but ended up selling only portions of it. These developments followed a year of lackluster results in 1991, when earnings fell to $12 million, hurt by the overall high costs of absorbing the Barry Wright operations and by a general recession. As a maker of tools for use in construction, Applied Power was hurt in particular by the slump in that industry. While its GB Electrical unit and its Enerpac operations continued to contribute strongly, another company unit, Apitech, which had been founded to develop high-tech valves and other equipment to improve automobile suspensions, continued to eat up millions of dollars in research and development costs.
This trend continued in 1992, as Applied Power reported a loss of $24.4 million. In an effort to strengthen its positions, Applied Power reorganized certain aspects of its operations, altering the structure of its Barry Controls division in California and changing the nature of its Power-Packer operations in Europe. In addition, the company moved forward aggressively in foreign markets, purchasing the remaining portions of its joint venture operations in Mexico and Germany. Anticipating dramatic growth in Asia, Applied Power hired a new executive to run its Asian operations in Korea and Japan, with the intention of intensifying marketing efforts in those countries.
This thrust toward foreign markets continued in 1993, as Applied Power entered into a joint project with the Detec Design and Industrie Company in Germany to manufacture hydraulic products. That year the company's stock moved from the NASDAQ to the New York Stock Exchange. Applied Power began recovering from its early 1990s doldrums in 1994, when it posted profits of $16.6 million, its best year since 1990. The following year, revenues surpassed the $500 million mark for the first time, and the company began pursuing larger acquisitions again. San Diego-based Vision Plastics Manufacturing Co. was acquired that year for $21.5 million. Vision was a producer of plastic cable ties that GB Electrical distributed. In early 1996 Applied Power spent about $10 million to acquire CalTerm Inc., a supplier of electrical products for do-it-yourself automotive repairs, based in El Cajon, California. Like Vision, CalTerm fit in well alongside the GB Electrical unit.
The Rise of Electronic Enclosures
The late 1990s were marked by Applied Power's rapid acquisition-led expansion into the electronic enclosure products and systems sector. Unlike many of the company's other businesses--including Enerpac, Barry Controls, and Power-Packer--which were cyclical in nature, the enclosures business was growth-oriented, expanding at an annual rate of 35 percent in the late 1990s. The enclosures sector also offered higher margins than other Applied Power sectors, and was a highly fragmented industry, rife for consolidation. Applied Power set out to be the enclosure consolidator.
Ironically, given that the company had attempted to sell it in 1992, Wright Line was Applied Power's entrance into this sector. By the mid-1990s Wright Line had sales of $95 million, representing about 18 percent of overall sales, and was one of Applied Power's fastest-growing and most profitable units. The company then made a number of acquisitions in the late 1990s, most of which were enclosure-related. In September 1996 Applied Power completed its largest purchase since 1989 when it spent $52 million for Everest Electronic Equipment, Inc., a maker of custom and standard electronic enclosures based in Anaheim, California. For the fiscal year ending in August 1997, Applied Power posted revenues of $672.3 million, 28 percent of which was generated by the company's enclosure products and systems unit.
Acquisitions to Broaden Product Lines
Applied Power acquired Racine, Wisconsin-based Versa Technologies, Inc., (Versa/Tek) in October 1997 for $141 million. Versa/Tek included several businesses, some of which fit in with Applied Power's engineered solutions unit, which included Barry Controls and Power-Packer. These were Power Gear, maker of hydraulic leveling systems for the RV market; and Mox-Med, which made silicone rubber products for medical equipment. Other Versa/Tek units included Milwaukee Cylinder, a maker of hydraulic cylinders that fit alongside Enerpac and the company's tools and supplies division; and Eder Industries, a maker of electronic control systems for a variety of industries. Eder Industries had synergies with both the engineered solutions and the enclosures segments, but was initially placed within engineered solutions.
Applied Power next acquired VERO Group plc in June 1998 for $191.7 million (fending off a competing bid by Pentair, Inc.) and ZERO Corporation the following month in a merger valued at $386 million. Based in the United Kingdom, VERO manufactured electronic enclosures and related products, including racks, backplanes, and power supplies. VERO, which in 1997 had sales of $170 million and earnings of $17 million, helped Applied Power broaden its line of products in the European market.
ZERO, which was based in Los Angeles and had 1997 revenues of $260 million, was also active in the electronic enclosures market; its system packaging, thermal management, and engineered cases served the telecommunication, instrumentation, and data-processing markets. These major acquisitions helped increase Applied Power's fiscal 1998 revenues to $1.23 billion, an increase of 37 percent over 1997 results. The company's enclosure products segment was its largest segment, accounting for 39 percent of overall sales. Net income for 1998 was reduced to $26.7 million because of a $52.6 million charge relating to acquisition costs, plant consolidations, and other restructuring costs.
Top Supplier Status Achieved
In September 1998 Applied Power completed its third major enclosure acquisition in the span of four months, with the $371.5 million purchase of U.K.-based Rubicon Group plc, one of the leading manufacturers of electronic enclosures in Europe. Rubicon brought to Applied Power a new segment of the enclosure market--automated teller machines (ATMs)--and it manufactured safes, the surrounding enclosure, and other ATM component parts as well as providing assembly services. With this latest acquisition, Applied Power was the number one worldwide supplier of custom electronic enclosures, a position it had attained in an astonishingly short period.
In early 1999 the company received another boost when it landed a ten-year, $200 million contract to supply electronic enclosure systems for wireless base station equipment to Sweden-based Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson. Applied Power announced a restructuring of its operations in May of that year, which involved the organizing of its operations into two segments: APW Electronics and APW Industrial. The former included all of the enclosure products and systems businesses along with McLean Thermal Management and Eder Industries. Applied Power's remaining operations, including most of its engineered solutions and tools and supplies units were grouped within APW Industrial. For the fiscal year ending in August 1999, APW Electronics generated $1.06 billion in revenues (60 percent of overall revenues), while APW Industrial contributed $696 million. Overall profits reached a record $79.4 million.
2000 Spinoff
APW Electronics was spun off as APW Ltd. in July 2000. To remove any confusion in the mind of the investing public, the company's remaining unit, APW Industrial, began trading under the name Actuant Corporation. It was formally renamed in fiscal 2001.
Although the electronics unit, APW Ltd., was formed in order to reap the benefits of the "new economy," the tech sector soon crashed, prompting the newly independent company to declare bankruptcy in March 2002. A Los Angeles investment group, Oaktree Capital Management, bought APW a few months later.
Meanwhile, Actuant was preparing to enter a growth period as it acquired or built up an array of thriving niche businesses. Revenues for the 2000 fiscal year were $681 million, when the company recorded net earnings of $67.1 million. It would take a couple of years for figures to return to these levels.
Under the guidance of new CEO Robert C. Arzbaecher, the company held an initial public offering in February 2002, taking in $99 million. Most of this was earmarked toward paying down the $451 million debt it had had since the spinoff of APW Ltd. Revenues slipped from $482 million to $463 million in fiscal 2002, as the company posted a net loss of $2.6 million after earning $23.6 million the previous year.
Acquisitions continued with the 2001 purchase of Dewald Manufacturing Inc., a Mishawaka, Indiana, manufacturer of RV slideout systems. Dewald's revenues were about $20 million a year. Actuant also ditched some operations, divesting its Mox-Med and Quick Mold Change operations during the year.
Actuant further bolstered its RV business by buying Kwikee Power Products Co. in September 2003. Kwikee, based in Cottage Grove, Oregon, produced slideouts, levelers, and step systems. It had 115 employees; sales were about $24 million a year. Actuant paid $30 million for the unit.
In fiscal 2003 Actuant bought a majority holding in Heinrich Kopp A.G. for $17 million. Kopp, headquartered near Frankfurt, Germany, made electrical supplies and had 1,200 employees in several countries. Actuant continued to build its European business by adding a Netherlands-based hardware supplier, Dresco B.V., the next year. The price was $30 million.
Revenues continued their steady climb, reaching $585.4 million in 2003 and $726.9 million the next year. By 2005 they were up to $976.1 million and Actuant was virtually a $1 billion company again.
A Key Acquisition in 2005
Actuant's typical acquisition cost less than $50 million, but the company did splurge on the $315 million purchase of Key Components, Inc., in 2005. This brought a handful of brands to the stable: Gits (air handling components/turbochargers), Marinco, Acme (power distribution products and engineered aerospace/defense products), B.W. Elliott (flexible shafts), and Turner Electric. Key was based in Tarrytown, New York.
Actuant then added Hauppauge, New York's A.W. Sperry Instruments, Inc., a 35-person outfit making electrical test equipment. The cost was $12.5 million. In 2005 Actuant also augmented its Enerpac unit with the acquisition of Hedley Purvis Holdings, Ltd., whose operating companies produced torque wrenches and other specialized tools.
Hydratight Sweeney Ltd., formerly part of Dover Corp.'s Waukesha Bearings Corp. unit, was added toward the end of fiscal 2005 at a cost of $93 million. It made bolting products for power plants and chemical facilities and had several manufacturing facilities around the world.
Other acquisitions in fiscal 2005 included Paris-based Yvel S.A., acquired early in the year for $9 million. Yvel made hydraulic latches used in tractor-trailer cabs, a complement to Actuant's existing Power-Packer line.
Acquisitions to Diversify Business in 2006
The pace of acquisitions continued in fiscal 2006 with the addition of D.L. Ricci, which made portable machining equipment for the energy industry. Based in Red Wing, Minnesota, Ricci had annual sales of $25 million and 75 employees.
Precision Sure-Lock, maker of products used in concrete construction, was acquired at a cost of $43 million. It had sales of $25 million and a 75-person workforce. Another 2006 purchase was Actown Electrocoil, Inc., a Spring Grove, Illinois, manufacturer of transformers and coils, acquired for $24 million. Actown had $36 million sales and 300 employees.
Actuant continued to evolved by developing new niches. In 2006, it bought B.E.P. Marine Limited of Auckland, New Zealand, which made electrical components for the marine industry and had annual sales of $10 million. Actuant paid $8 million plus a performance-based incentive. The next year, it paid $30 million for BH Electronics (BHE), a producer of electronic assemblies for boats. Based in Munford, Tennessee, the company had 450 employees and annual revenues of about $35 million. Actuant was planning to introduce some of its boating products into new sectors such as RVs.
Total revenues were up to $1.2 billion in 2006 and were still growing at a double-digit rate. Net income was $92.6 million. Sales rose 21 percent in fiscal 2007 to $1.5 billion as net earnings passed the $100 million mark. Although high costs at the operations in Europe prompted a restructuring there, Actuant continued to buy smaller companies in fiscal 2007.
Acquisitions in 2007
Actuant complemented its Hydratight business by adding Injectaseal Deutschland GmbH for about $13 million. Based in Kerpen, Germany, Injectaseal specialized in leak management services for the energy industry. It had annual revenues of about $10 million.
Maxima Technologies, a Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based electronic instrumentation specialist, was acquired at a cost of about $91 million. Maxima had 500 employees and annual revenues of $65 million.
Actuant continued to invest in Europe, buying T.T. Fijnmechanica (TTF) for $20 million. Based in Holland, TTF produced heavy-duty lifts used in construction. Actuant bought another Dutch company during the year, Veha Haaksbergen B.V., a small ($5 million) maker of hydraulic cylinders.
In September 2007 Actuant acquired hydraulic pump and tool manufacturer Templeton Kenly of Illinois for $48 million. This added the Simplex, Uni-Lift, and Pow'r Riser brands to the stable. Templeton Kenly had 120 employees and sales exceeding $30 million a year.
In just a few years since the spinoff, Actuant's market capitalization had increased from $113 million to more than $1.8 billion, and the company was aiming to double in size within five years. Its many acquisitions had raised its total debt level to $561.7 million. Actuant projected sales to rise 20 percent to $1.6 billion in fiscal 2008.
Principal Subsidiaries
Actuant China Ltd.; New England Controls, Inc.; Nielsen Hardware Corporation; Atlantic Guest, Inc.; Kwikee Products Company, LLC; Versa Technologies, Inc.; Actuant France SA; Pivicat SAS (France); Yvel S.A. (France); Barry Controls GmbH (Germany); Brunnquell GmbH (Germany); Condor Installationstechnik GmbH (Germany); Heinrich Kopp GmbH (Germany); Injectaseal Deutschland GmbH (Germany); Kopp Properties KG (Germany); Dresco BV (Netherlands); T.T. Fijnmechanica BV (Netherlands); Veha Haaksbergen BV (Netherlands); A.W. Sperry Instruments, Inc.; Acme Electric Corporation; BW Elliott Mfg. Co., LLC; Gits Mfg. Co. LLC; Key Components, Inc.; Hypur-Mate Norge AS (Norway); Maxima Technologies; BH Electronics; Amveco Magnetics, Inc.; HEKO Electrotechnique SARL (Tunisia); Ergun Kriko San, AA (Turkey); Hedley Purvis Group Ltd. (U.K.); Hevilift Limited (U.K.); Hydratight Sweeney Ltd. (U.K.); Pertesco Ltd (U.K.); Columbus Manufacturing, LLC; Enerpac Corp.; GB Tools and Supplies, Inc.
Principal Divisions
Industrial; Electrical; Actuation Systems; Engineered Products.
Principal Operating Units
Enerpac; Hydratight; Simplex; Injectaseal; Precision Sure-Lock, LP; Gardner Bender; Kopp; Dresco; Marinco; Ancor; BH Electronics; BEP Marine; Guest; Power-Packer; Power Gear; Kwikee; Gits Mfg. Co.; Elliott; Maxima Technologies; Nielsen Sessions; Turner Electric LLC; Acme Electric Corporation--Aerospace Division.
Principal Competitors
Eaton Corporation; Parker Hannifin Corporation; The Stanley Works; Steelcase Inc.; Kennametal Inc.
Further Reading
"Actuant Completes Public Offering," Business Journal of Milwaukee, February 15, 2002.
"Actuant Finalizes $93M Purchase of Hydratight Sweeney," Business Journal of Milwaukee, May 18, 2005.
"Actuant Plans European Restructuring; Shares Plunge," Business Journal of Milwaukee, June 20, 2006.
Byrne, Harlan S., "Applied Power: Struggling Past a Big Acquisition," Barron's, October 12, 1992.
Content, Thomas, "Actuant to Delay Its Annual Report: SEC Wants More Data; Auto Parts Maker Says Sales, Income Numbers Won't Change," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 17, 2006.
Daykin, Tom, "Applied Power Has Value, Growth Potential, Analyst Says," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 5, 1998, p. 10.
------, "Applied Power Sells New Headquarters," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, December 1, 1999, p. 2.
------, "Applied Power to Buy British Company: Butler-Based Company to Pay $347.8 Million for One of Europe's Largest Manufacturers of Electronic Enclosures," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 2, 1998, p. 1.
Gallun, Alby, "Airline Business Propels Applied Power," Business Journal-Milwaukee, September 19, 1997, p. 1.
------, "Applied Power at Crossroads After Spinoff," Business Journal-Milwaukee, February 18, 2000, p. 5.
------, "Applied Power Continues Binge of Acquisitions," Business Journal-Milwaukee, December 12, 1997, p. 9.
------, "Applied Power to Take $52.6 Million Charge," Business Journal-Milwaukee, October 2, 1998, p. 3.
Harlin, Kevin, "Actuant Seeks Out Niches to Make It Big Fish in Pond," Investor's Business Daily, July 10, 2007.
Hawkins, Lee, Jr., "Applied Power Lands 10-Year Deal Worth More Than $200 Million," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, February 25, 1999, p. 7.
Holley, Paul, "A Selective Applied Power Goes on the Prowl Again," Business Journal-Milwaukee, May 4, 1996, p. 5.
Kirchen, Rich, "Applied's Mathematics: Manufacturer Figures to Be 'On Way Back,'" Business Journal-Milwaukee, July 9, 1994, p. 1.
Kurowski, Jeff, "RV Supplier Actuant Acquires Competitor Dewald," RV Business, May 2001, p. 10.
------, "Supplier Actuant Acquires Kwikee," RV Business, November 2003, p. 103.
Rovito, Rich, "Actuant Morphs into Swan," Business Journal-Milwaukee, October 10, 2003, pp. A1f.
------, "Actuant, MSOE Pair Up to Teach Lean Principles," Business Journal of Milwaukee, March 24, 2006.
Savage, Mark, "Applied Power Boosts Bid for British Company," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 13, 1998, p. 1.
------, "Applied Power Deal Lures Competitor," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 6, 1998, p. 1.
------, "Applied Power Sets $52 Million Deal," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, August 29, 1996, p. 1.
------, "Applied Power to Buy ZERO Corp.," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 7, 1998, p. 1.
Serant, Claire, "APW Prepares for Spinoff," Electronic Buyers' News, February 21, 2000, p. 84.
Sharma-Jensen, Geeta, "Applied Power Agrees to Deal," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 4, 1997, p. 1.
— Elizabeth Rourke; Updated by David E. Salamie, Frederick C. Ingram
