(BRK.A), (BRK.B)
Berkshire Hathaway’s Johns Manville has signed an agreement to acquire ITW Insulation Systems, a business owned by Illinois Tool Works Inc. that is well known in the industrial industry for its premium, low-temperature polyisocyanurate foam insulations and metal jacketing solutions.
ITW Insulation Systems has been a division of Illinois Tool Works Inc.
The deal is expected to close in early December.
“The acquisition of ITW Insulation Systems represents an important strategic opportunity to offer expanded insulation solutions to the industrial market,” said JM President and CEO Mary Rhinehart. “This will give us greater versatility and allow JM’s Insulation Systems business to continue to offer a robust and well-rounded portfolio of insulation solutions.”
ITW Insulation Systems has 100 employees who work at four manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Canada (Houston, Texas; La Porte, Texas; Edmonton, Alberta; and Mississauga, Ontario).
ITW Insulation Systems’ primary markets include refining, petrochemical, power, LNG, food & beverage, oil sands and other energy applications.
“There is substantial growth occurring in the cold and cryogenic markets,” said Bob Wamboldt, President of JM’s Insulation Systems business. “We wanted to participate more actively in this space and the product portfolio offered by ITW Insulation Systems allows us to do exactly that.”
JM plans to integrate ITW Insulation Systems as a key part of its industrial insulation portfolio without making significant changes to the existing operations at ITW Insulation Systems.
“JM’s Industrial Insulation business is a market leader, producing the broadest product portfolio of any manufacturer in the industrial insulation industry,” said Dave Skelly, General Manager of Performance Materials at JM. “Historically, this has included high-temperature calcium silicate, expanded perlite, mineral wool, microporous blankets and silica aerogel, and now, with the addition of ITW Insulation Systems, our portfolio includes both low-temperature polyisocyanurate foams and metal jacketing. These additions make our industrial insulation portfolio incredibly robust and allow us to be a single source for our customers’ insulation and jacketing needs.”
© 2019 David Mazor
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.