“The acquisition of Beka expands our global leadership in the highly attractive automatic lubrication systems market sector, increases our geographic scale and market coverage in Europe and Asia and will create new opportunities to serve wind and other industrial end-markets more fully,” says Timken’s president and chief executive officer, Richard Kyle. “Beka is a premier brand and technical leader, and like our Groeneveld business, offers automatic and central lubrication systems that reduce operating costs and extend equipment life. We expect to realise significant synergies, margin expansion and revenue growth opportunities through the combined Groeneveld-Beka business.”

Family owned and operated since it was founded in 1927, Beka has its headquarters in Pegnitz, Germany. The company employs around 900 people, with manufacturing, research and development based in Germany, and assembly facilities and sales offices around the world. Beka serves a wide range of industrial sectors including wind, food and beverage, rail, on- and off-highway, and the process sector. Its 2019 sales are expected to total around $135m.

Timken first entered the automatic lubrication market in 2013 when it bought Interlube. It expanded its portfolio and global reach “significantly” in 2017 by buying Groeneveld. With the acquisition of Beka, Timken will become the world’s second-largest manufacturer of industrial automatic lubrication systems, which replace manual lubrication methods to improve equipment life and reliability, while reducing the total cost of ownership. The transaction advances the company’s strategy, which is focused on growing its leadership position in engineered bearings, while diversifying its portfolio into adjacent products and markets.

The privately negotiated transaction is subject to regulatory review approval in Germany. It is expected to close during the fourth quarter of this year. It will be funded with cash and existing debt facilities. Timken expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings in 2020.