Applied Industrial Technologies buys Oregon company

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE: AIT) of Cleveland has agreed to buy Olympus Controls Corp., an Oregon-based producer of motion-control, machine vision and robotic technologies.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Applied, a distributor of bearings, power transmission products, engineered fluid power components and systems, specialty flow-control products and other industrial supplies, said in a news release on Wednesday morning, Aug. 14, that it expects the deal to close by the end of this month.

Olympus, founded in 1998, has about 80 employees and serves OEMs, machine builders and other customers throughout the Pacific Northwest, West Coast and lower Central States from five locations: Tualatin, Ore.; Kent, Wash.; Fremont and San Diego, Calif.; and Lake Dallas, Texas.

Applied said in the release that the business will continue to operate under the Olympus Controls name.

"Olympus brings to Applied a full range of value-added automation expertise, with leading technology solutions, an established geographic footprint and strong supplier partnerships," said Neil A. Schrimsher, president and CEO of Applied, in a statement. "Their addition is a strong complement to our business, further broadening our capabilities, customer opportunities and technical presence across varied industrial segments."

Applied on Wednesday also announced results for its fiscal 2019 fourth quarter and the full year.

For the quarter ended June 30, Applied reported that net sales decreased 1.7% to $882.7 million from $897.7 million in the like period a year ago. Net income also fell slightly, to $39.8 million, or $1.02 per share, compared with $40.4 million, or $1.03 per share, in the prior year

Applied said sales for the ful year rose 13% to $3.47 billion from $3.07 billion in fiscal 2018. Net income was $143.9 million, or $3.68 per share, up from the prior year's net income of $141.6 million, or $3.65 per share.

The company also provided its initial outlook for fiscal 2020. For the full year, Applied said it forecasts an earnings-per-share range of $4.20 to $4.50. It projects sales to be in a range of down 2% to up2%.

On Tuesday, Aug. 13, Applied said in a regulatory filing that it had elected two people to its board of directors: Madhuri A. Andrews, 52, the senior vice president, chief digital and information officer of Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., and Mary Dean Hall, 62, the senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer of Quaker Houghton.

Andrews and Hall join the board ahead of the planned October 2019 retirements of Dr. Jerry Sue Thornton and Edith Kelly-Green, who have served for 25 and 17 years, respectively.

Following these appointments and retirements, the Applied board remains at nine directors, eight of whom are independent, including the chairman, Peter C. Wallace.