Kadant (KAI) Buys Syntron Material Handling For $179M In Cash

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) has announced that it successfully completed the acquisition of Syntron Material Handling Group, LLC and certain associates (together referred below as Syntron) for $179 million in cash. The other party to the transaction were some affiliates of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners.

It is worth mentioning here that the company’s stock price has increased roughly 0.7% at the close of the trading session on Jan 2, 2019. The closing price on that day was $82.03.

Syntron is based in Tupelo, MS, and is primarily engaged in manufacturing, and providing equipment and systems related to material handling. Its products are mainly used in process industries like packaging, pulp and paper, mining, food processing, and others. Two key products, including vibratory and conveying equipment, are offered under Syntron and Link-Belt brands.

In the trailing 12 months ended Oct 31, 2018, Syntron generated revenues of approximately $89 million.

Details of Buyout

As noted, Kadant funded the acquisition price with funds raised through revolving credit facility. This buyout will be a win-win situation for Kadant as it adds a very strong management team of Syntron and its 250 experienced employees. Further, the buyout will strengthen Kadant’s product offerings in process industries and open growth opportunities in new markets.

It is worth mentioning here that acquired assets had a positive impact of $0.9 million on the company’s revenues in the third quarter of 2018.

Snapshot of Kadant’s Inorganic Initiatives

Kadant believes in investing money for acquisition of complementary businesses and technologies. The above-mentioned buyout is in sync with this policy of Kadant.

Prior to the Syntron buyout, Kadant did not make any acquisitions in 2018. But, the company did acquire some assets of Unaflex, LLC in August 2017 and NII FPG Company’s forest products businesses in July 2017. The Unaflex assets added strength to Kadant’s Papermaking Systems segment while NII FPG Company’s forest products business acquisition fortified Kadant’s Wood Processing Systems segment.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

With a market capitalization of nearly $911 million, Kadant currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings remained unchanged at $5.03 for 2018 (results not yet released) and at $5.83 for 2019. These estimates reflect year-over-year growth of 12% for 2018 and 15.9% for 2019.

Kadant Inc Price and Consensus