The US-based Curtiss-Wright Corporation has bought the privately owned actuator manufacturer Exlar for $85m in cash. Exlar, which designs and produces electric actuators for industrial and military applications, will join Curtiss-Wright`s Motion Control business. It is expected to contribute sales worth about $50m in 2013.

According to Curtiss-Wright’s chairman and CEO, Martin Benante, Exlar will serve as “a cornerstone property” serving multiple markets and addressing the growing demand for advanced, efficient and environmentally-friendly actuation systems, while strengthening his company’s industrial controls business.

“This acquisition complements our recent acquisitions of PG Drives and Williams Controls,” he says, “and further enhances our market diversification by providing greater penetration into our existing markets, while simultaneously increasing our presence and breadth of product offerings in specialty markets.”

Exlar, founded in 1991, employs 183 people. Its headquarters are in Chanhassen, Minnesota, and it has a sales and service office in Germany. It is represented in the UK by Olsen Engineering, based in Newtown, Wales.

Exlar`s electromechanical actuators can be used as “plug and play” replacements for hydraulic actuators, providing precise position control and allowing users to eliminate the maintenance and environmental issues associated with hydraulics. Compared to hydraulic and pneumatic technologies, Exlar`s actuators cut energy use significantly because they consume power only when motion is needed.

Curtiss-Wright, which employs about 9,700 people worldwide, provides flow control, motion control and surface treatment technologies to the defence, energy and commercial/industrial markets. Its Motion Control business designs and manufactures technologies for niche actuation and drive applications, as well as integrated sensors and electronic subsystems for the aerospace and defence markets.