Scottish entrepreneur Jim McColl is to sell Clyde Union Pumps, the business he joined as an apprentice, to American Fortune 500 company SPX Corporation.
Glasgow-headquartered Clyde Union Pumps will continue to be run as a standalone business under the leadership of the same management team.
Clyde Union was formed under the direction of Clyde Blowers Capital chairman and chief executive Jim McColl out of two major acquisitions – the £48 million purchase of the former Weir Pumps business in Cathcart, Glasgow from the Weir Group in May 2007 and the acquisition of Union Pumps as part of a $1 billion deal with another Fortune 500 company, Textron, the following year.
The three years to the end of 2010 have seen an almost tenfold increase in profit (EBITDA) from £4.5 million to £40.1 million, with a rise in turnover from £44.7 million to £259.9 million for the same period, rising to over £400 million in the current year.
Commenting on the decision to sell the former Weir Pumps business where his career started as an apprentice at the age of 16, McColl said: “Our success over the past four years has created a lot of interest in Clyde Union Pumps, and we have had many enquiries about the business. Until now, our response has consistently been that the company was not for sale, because we still saw significant growth opportunities and were firmly focused on delivering the growth strategy which we had put in place.
“However, earlier this year we were approached by SPX, who were very keen to talk to us about acquiring the business. Since then we have been in discussions with SPX management and have reached an agreement for them to acquire Clyde Union.
“A very important part of our discussions has centred around us being convinced that SPX would be a good responsible owner of this business and would continue to support its growth. As a very large corporation, we firmly believe SPX can provide that investment and be a safe custodian of our business going forward.”
North Carolina-headquartered SPX is a publicly-traded multi-industry global engineering company with annual revenues of $5.5 billion, employing over 15,000 people in 35 countries.
Clyde Union will be part of SPX’s Flow Technology business, the largest and most profitable part of the corporation, which brings in $2 billion in annual revenue.
Don Canterna, President of SPX Flow Technology said: “Our board of directors and senior management are very committed to the Flow Technology segment and growing it through both organic initiatives and acquisition opportunities.
“SPX has a very strong track record of successful acquisitions and we have demonstrated an ability to repeatedly create value by partnering with high quality companies like Clyde Union Pumps, which will bring Flow Technology critical mass in the power and energy sectors and will serve as a platform for future growth in these markets.”
