MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO — Denison International plc is putting a bigger emphasis on the plastics industry, using its acquisition of an Italian hydraulic motor maker to power up its exposure.
In the year since Marysville, Ohio-based Denison bought out Riva Calzoni Oleodinamica SpA of Bologna, Italy, the hydraulic specialist has been able to play off the strengths of both businesses to expand, said Alan A. Scott, general manager for Denison Hydraulics Canada Inc.
"It's been a big boost for us," Scott said May 1 at Plast-Ex 2001 in Mississauga. "Calzoni has a big stake in the injection molding market, and it allowed us to take more products to the same customers."
Denison already was making hydraulic pumps and valves used in a variety of injection molding presses before it bought Calzoni, according to Scott. However, the plastics industry represented just a small portion of its overall sales. Denison had more business supplying parts for equipment for heavy industries such as oil drilling.
Calzoni, meanwhile, was a 98-employee operation with sales of about $11 million. Nearly three-quarters of its sales were to makers of injection molding machines.
The companies often had parts side-by-side on the same presses, but were not competitors, Scott noted.
"Calzoni was a great acquisition for us," he said. "Calzoni lacked the international exposure we had, but they had the exposure in plastics that Denison didn't."
The buyout also gave customers of the Italian producer access to service through Denison's offices worldwide.