SARASOTA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sun Hydraulics Corporation (NASDAQ: SNHY) (“SNHY” or the “Company”), a global industrial technology leader that develops and manufactures solutions for both the hydraulics and electronics markets, today announced that it completed the acquisition of the shares of Faster Group for €430 million (approximately $530 million) in cash on April 5, 2018. SNHY also entered into new $500 million senior secured credit facilities.
The Company previously announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the shares of Faster Group on February 19, 2018.
Faster is a leading global manufacturer of quick-release hydraulic coupling solutions. Its primary markets include agriculture, construction equipment and general industrial applications. Headquartered in Milan, Italy, Faster has manufacturing operations co-located with its headquarters as well as in Toledo, Ohio and Pune, India. Additionally, the company has sales offices in Shanghai, China; São Paulo, Brazil; and Langenfeld, Germany.
Wolfgang Dangel, SNHY's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “The completion of this acquisition brings us another step closer to the realization of our Vision 2025. We seek to gain critical mass as a global technology leader in the industrial goods sector while maintaining superior profitability and financial strength. Faster fits this strategy well and upholds a strongly innovative culture, driving new product development and market leadership.”
He added, “From a consolidated standpoint, the addition of Faster further broadens our end market reach, increasing our presence in the growing agriculture market. Collectively, our teams embrace the opportunities for synergy to strengthen our respective brands globally.”
SNHY’s new $500 million senior secured credit facilities were provided by a PNC Bank, NA led syndicate. The new facilities replace the Company’s previous credit facilities and consist of a $400 million revolving credit facility and $100 million term loan. In addition to using the new term loan and existing cash, SNHY has drawn approximately $258 million of the revolver to finance the Faster acquisition.
Tricia L. Fulton, SNHY’s Chief Financial Officer, stated, “The establishment of these credit facilities not only provided us with the needed funding to close on the Faster acquisition, they also offer us liquidity to support our growth plans over the next five years. Our plans are to generate cash flows from operations to repay the outstanding debt as quickly as possible, maintaining our financial strength.”
She added, “Faster had a strong start to 2018, continuing the momentum realized in 2017. We will be analyzing their results for the first quarter of 2018 over the next few weeks. Accordingly, we intend to update our consolidated guidance, including Faster for the remainder of the year, next month when we report our first quarter results.”
About Sun
Sun Hydraulics Corporation is an industrial technology leader that develops and manufactures solutions for both the hydraulics and electronics markets. In the hydraulics market, the Company is a leading manufacturer of high-performance screw-in hydraulic cartridge valves, electro-hydraulics, manifolds, and integrated package solutions for the worldwide industrial and mobile hydraulics markets. In the electronics market, the Company is a global provider of innovative electronic control, display and instrumentation solutions for both recreational and off-highway vehicles, as well as stationary and power generation equipment. For more information about Sun, please visit www.sunhydraulics.com.
