ITT Corporation, a global high-technology engineering and manufacturing company specializing in the transport and treatment of water and wastewater, has agreed to purchase privately held Godwin Pumps, a leading supplier of automatic self-priming portable pumps serving the municipal, industrial, construction, mining, and oil and gas segments.
ITT agreed to purchase Godwin from its principal shareholders for $585 million. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2010, pending customary regulatory approvals.
Godwin Pumps, founded in 1976, is based in Bridgeport, N.J., and has 800 employees throughout the United States and at its manufacturing facility in Gloucestershire, England. The company operates a U.S. rental fleet of more than 6,000 pumps at 26 rental facilities and a network of about 50 distributors worldwide. Godwin's 2009 revenues were $200 million, and full-year 2010 revenue was projected at $235 million. The Godwin acquisition is expected to double ITT revenues from dewatering equipment and services.
Godwin is best known for its service capabilities in dewatering and for the original Dri-Prime pump, an automatic self-priming centrifugal pump for handling industrial sludges, oil, sewage, stormwater, mine dewatering and other applications. Upon closing of the acquisition, Godwin will become part of ITT's $1.6 billion Water & Wastewater business.
ITT today sells Flygt and Grindex dewatering pumps, and rents from a fleet of more than 11,000 pumps through a global sales and distribution network serving customers in more than 140 countries. Flygt pumps are the original submersible dewatering pumps, invented in 1948.
John Michael Paz, founder and chief executive officer of Godwin Pumps, sees the acquisition as a global expansion opportunity for Godwin products and services. "Over the last 30 years, Godwin employees and our strong distribution network have built the Godwin brand and reputation, and I am pleased to see this opportunity for future growth," he said. "The combination of these two talented teams should result in tremendous opportunities for both companies." For more information about this acquisition, visit www.itt.com/investors.
