Power-protection company is sold

MTE Corp., a company that makes power-protection products used in industrial equipment ranging from elevators to municipal water pumps has been sold to a New Jersey, USA, company for $15.5 million.

MTE Corp. will remain in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin USA, where it has about 100 employees at two factories, said Norbert Miller, company president and chief executive officer.

The company has been sold to SL Industries of Mount Laurel, New Jersey USA.

SL Industries has roughly 1,300 employees and is publicly traded. Like MTE, it makes power quality products used in a variety of industries, including aerospace.

MTE had about $17 million in sales last year. Under the acquisition, it is to be operated as an SL Industries company but run separate from SL Industries' other companies.

"We have just added people, and there is no intention to reduce personnel. Our product line is totally unique within the SL group," Miller said.

MTE products, used to protect electrical equipment from power surges, harmonic distortion, etc., are sold worldwide through more than 250 distributors. (MTE products, including Line Reactors, dV/dt Filters, Harmonic Mitigation Filters, Sine-Wave Filters, etc., are marketed Globally and are represented in Australia by Westek Electronics Pty Ltd)

The company also has found some unique niches, such as providing street lamp ballasts for Los Angeles, the largest street lamp market in the nation.

MTE was formed in 1982 for the purpose of merging four independent magnetics and electronics companies.

Miller, one of the majority shareholders, said he spent nearly a year negotiating the sale to SL Industries.

"I am at the age where my family has indicated that they would really prefer I take my retirement. My former business partner died last December, and this seemed like a convenient time to sell," he said.
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Excerpted from the Nov. 7, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

I met and had dinner with the owner of MTE once at a trade show. He was the guy who also founded and sold off Thor drives. He said that he bought into MTE with his money from Thor because he wanted a "stupid" product, no electronics etc., just a dumb piece of iron with some wire on it. He was complaining back then, maybe 6 or 7 years ago, that it was starting to get too complicated again and he wanted out of the industry if he could just get enough money for MTE. So I guess that was his price!

It should be noted that they were never related to the MTE out of the UK.

JR,

The person to whom you refer is Karl Hink, who is the Executive Vice-President and C.O.O.

I will respond to you in private email with additional comment.

Meanwhile, you can glean additional '411' on the company at this link ..
http://www.mtecorp.com/profile.html