Kaman Acquires Germany’s GRW Bearing For $143 Million

Bloomfield, Conn.-based Kaman Corp. announced Monday that its aerospace segment has acquired Germany-based GRW Bearing GmbH, for $142.9 million.

GRW is a designer and manufacturer of super precision, miniature ball bearings. According to Kaman, GRW is focused on the demanding applications segment of the miniature ball bearings market, where low noise requirements, extreme temperatures, ultra-high speeds and/or caustic environments require both exceptional engineering design and continuous operating performance capabilities.

GRW operates out of two production facilities in Rimpar, Germany and Prachatice, Czech Republic, and is expected to have full year 2015 sales of approximately $50.7 million.

Kaman Chairman, President and CEO Neal Keating said, “GRW adds additional scale and new market segments to our most profitable product lines, specialty bearings and engineered products. The businesses are aligned through a focus on solving the critical problems of OEM customers and achieving the highest standards of performance in the most demanding applications. I welcome the GRW team to Kaman.”

“Few companies in the world have the technical capability to design and manufacture miniature bearings capable of achieving performance standards as high as GRW,” added Kaman Aerospace President Gregory Steiner. “As with Kaman specialty bearings brands Kamatics and RWG, GRW is focused on developing and manufacturing technology driven products with unsurpassed quality. The acquisition should allow us to drive significant synergies through operational efficiencies and additional sales growth.”