NSK acquires NSK-Torrington Joint Venture from Timken

NSK Acquires NSK-Torrington Joint Venture from Timken NSK Ltd. (Japan), paying USD $146 million, has acquired full ownership of the needle bearing joint venture it formed with The Torrington Company (USA) back in 1963. NSK-Torrington Co. Ltd. (Japan) became 49% owned by The Timken Company (USA) when it acquired Torrington earlier this year. The acquisition, however, triggered a buyout clause which allowed NSK to acquire full ownership of the venture. The strained financial conditions of both NSK and Timken called into question what would actually happen to NSK-Torrington, as reported in detail several weeks ago: As recently as mid-May, NSK officials in Japan "not decided yet" what it would do about its interest in NSK-Torrington, which has sales of approximately $200 million per year. At the same time, NSK executives wanted us to make it very clear that they are in no way at odds with Timken, asking us to point out specifically, "Timken and NSK have good relations including joint venture in China." In April 2003, Timken and NSK broke ground on a joint venture facility in Suzhou, China. The $40 million 50%/50% joint venture will produce single-row tapered roller bearings. NSK-Torrington Co. Ltd. was established in 1963 as the first joint venture of its type, involving Nippon Seiko K., Tokyo Bearing Co. and The Torrington Company. The company's first facility, in Takasaki, produced only Torrington-engineered drawn cup needle bearings. Forty years later, the company operates three plants in two locations. The Takasaki #1 and Yawata (Takasaki #2) plants are in Takasaki. A third major facility, built in 1998, is located in Haruna. In 2000, the former Tokyo Bearing plant in Konosu was closed and production transferred to the main Takasaki facility. Takasaki Plant #1 Haruna Plant(photos courtesy NSK Ltd.) All told, the three facilities cover over 154,000 square meters (1.6 million square feet) of manufacturing floorspace and employ almost 1,000 people. Annual sales are approximately $200 million, with net income of approximately $9 million. Product lines now include drawn cup needle roller bearings, cage & roller assemblies, solid needle bearings, thrust needle bearings, micro shafts, sensor rotors for anti-lock braking systems, planetary gear shafts, universal joints, linear ball bearings, cam followers, roller followers, tension levelers, and tappet roller bearings. Profitability remains slim, however. In 2002, Torrington reported netting less than 1.8% on sales from NSK-Torrington. Timken president and CEO Jim Griffith said, "When we bought Torrington, NSK approached us about buying our interest in the manufacturing venture. We concluded that, following such a transaction, we could continue to serve our Japan-based customers effectively. Going forward, Timken and NSK will continue to work together in other ventures involving sales, marketing and technology advancement." Timken said it intends to use the $146 million to pay down debt incurred in the Torrington acquisition.