Milcor is a multi-brand manufacturer of building products, selling to the U.S. residential and commercial construction markets. Its brands include Milcor, Lima Register, Leigh, Portals Plus, and RPS (Roof Products Systems). Milcor's product range includes residential grilles, registers, and diffusers (GRDs), heat and smoke vents for use in commercial building construction, and products for the commercial roofing industry. The company operates from one manufacturing facility in Lima, Ohio, and two in Bensenville, Ill., and employs approximately 350 people. It also has an exclusive purchasing agreement with C-Land, a Chinese manufacturer of GRDs. Milcor has annual sales of around $47 million.

The Milcor brands will be retained and the operations integrated into the group's residential air systems business, Hart & Cooley.

Gary Henry, president of Hart & Cooley, said, "This acquisition provides us with strong product and customer synergies, expands our distribution capability in both the wholesale and retail segments, and adds a new, complementary product line to our existing range. Strategically, Milcor also provides us with an important manufacturing capability in Asia."

A subsidiary of Tomkins plc, Hart & Cooley is a leading manufacturer of air distribution and vent products for forced-air heating and air conditioning systems. Major products include grilles, registers and diffusers, flexible duct, gas vent and chimney systems, and duct system components. Hart & Cooley is headquartered in Holland, Mich., and has operations in Huntsville, Ala.; Mira Loma, Calif.; Sanger, Calif.; Olive Branch, Miss.; Tucson, Ariz.; and Mexicali, Mexico.

For more information, visit www.hartandcooley.com.

Publication date: 01/31/2005