Ametek pays extra for gas-tester Mocon
Berwyn conglomerate adds "the global leader in gas" instruments
Ametek Inc., the $4 billion-in-yearly-sales electrical-devices conglomerate based in an office park north of Berwyn, says it has agreed to buy Mocon Inc., a $63 million (yearly sales) Minneapolis-based gas-instruments maker, for about $182 million, or $30 a share.
The sale price was nearly 40 percent higher than Mocon's recent stock market price -- "a significant value for our shareholders," Mocon CEO Robert L. Demorest said in a statement. Ametek's global reach will help Mocon staff and customers, he added. The price is an alltime high for the company, which went public in 1985.
Mocon is "the global leader in gas analysis instrumentation," Ametek CEO David A. Zapico said in a statement, adding that the company would help Ametek win clients in "the growing food and pharmaceutical package testing market."
Mocon's board approved the deal pending regulatory consent. Ametek hopes to close the transaction by this fall.