Franklin Electric Acquires a Majority Stake in Pioneer Pump
Franklin Electric Co. has completed the acquisition of a majority stake of Pioneer Pump Holdings Inc. (PPH, the holding company for two wholly owned subsidiaries, Pioneer Pump Inc. (PPI) of Canby, Ore. and Pioneer Pump Limited (PPL) of Rattlesden, England, UK.
Pioneer manufactures large, engine-driven centrifugal pumps used for dewatering in oil and gas, municipal, construction and mining applications. PPH”s 2011 consolidated net sales were approximately $70 million.
Franklin Electric acquired a 35 percent equity interest in Pioneer Pump Inc. in 2005. The investment had a carrying cost of about $11 million as of Dec. 31, 2011. With the recent transaction, Franklin Electric”s equity interest in PPH has increased to 70 percent and PPH will now be consolidated in Franklin Electric”s financial statements.
Franklin Electric has also definitively agreed to purchase the remaining minority shares of PPH in the first quarter of 2015.
Scott Trumbull, Franklin chairman and chief executive said, in a prepared announcement, that Pioneer’s growth as a manufacturer of mobile pumping systems over the last six years is in part due to the growing use of their products for mobile pumping applications such as hydraulic fracturing for oil & gas extraction. He said Pioneer”s presence in the oil & gas market will also compliment Franklin”s initiative to introduce submersible pumping systems in this market.
