Seals sold for £45m

announced recently that it has acquired

, an Austrian manufacturer of seals and engineered plastic components.

The acquisition, of 100% of the shares of Economos Austria from Salzer Holding, is worth over £45m on a cash and debt free basis, and follows the recent announcement of the purchase of a controlling interest in the North American seals company, Macrotech Polyseal.

Economos has a worldwide network of subsidiaries and distributors, many of which are classified as Sealing Competence Centres. In the UK, the company has its head offices in Slough, with a network of 12 branches.

The acquisition of Economos will expand still further SKF’s capabilities as a global manufacturer and supplier of high performance industrial seals and associated products and services.

In particular, SKF says Economos is recognised for its innovation and fast delivery services for hydraulic and pneumatic seals used in the oil and gas, food and beverage, pulp and paper, mining and steel industries. These seals are produced from a variety of materials including advanced plastics and are produced either at the company’s principal manufacturing site in Judenburg in Austria or machined in key local markets to ensure rapid deliveries.

Economos had sales of almost £50m in 2005 and employs over 800 staff worldwide. Bo Annvik, President of SKF Sealing Solutions, said: ‘In addition to broadening our presence in the industrial seals market, Economos brings a business and manufacturing concept that has made them world leaders in providing extremely high service levels. This is our second acquisition this year which means that we are rapidly becoming a major force in the industrial seals business.’