SKF Achieve the Acquirement of the Lubrication Systems Business

SKF has acquired the lubrication systems business of John Crane Safematic, previously part of the Speciality Engineering Division of Smiths Group. With its headquarters and production centre in Finland, John Crane Safematic is one of Europe's leading manufacturers of lubrication systems for both industrial and heavy vehicle applications, and its products and resources will help to strengthen still further SKF's already comprehensive offering of lubrication solutions for customers around the world. The Safematic brand is perhaps most closely associated with the company's range of automatic lubrication systems, which have been developed to help OEMs and end users reduce maintenance costs while extending the operating life of a wide range of manufacturing and process plant and machinery, and off-road, construction and agricultural equipment. The Safematic products will complement SKF's existing range of Vogel centralised lubrication systems and minimal quantity lubrication technologies, and will enable SKF to offer both a far wider choice of lubrication solutions and to extend its technical and customer services to add further value. In addition, the incorporation of John Crane Safematic's manufacturing centre, together with its sales offices in Sweden, Brazil, Germany and the USA, will add new resources, skills and experience to the SKF Group, while giving the Safematic brand the backing of a major, specialised global organisation. John Crane Safematic currently employs around 130 staff and had sales in 2005 of approximately GBP 16 million. The business will form part of the SKF Lubrication Solutions business, which is within the SKF Group's Industrial Division.