Apw North America Inc history

In 1927 the company purchased a small hydraulic jack manufacturer, the Hydraulic Tool Company, in Los Angeles, California, which fit the bill.

In 1955 Blackhawk sold off its original line of hand tools, as its business evolved away from that area into more complicated systems.

Also in 1960, Blackhawk began an effort to expand its markets beyond the borders of the United States.

In 1961 Blackhawk changed its corporate name to Applied Power Industries, Inc. in an effort to better reflect the different aspects of its operations.

Also in 1970, Applied Power increased its geographical scope further when it opened a subsidiary in the Netherlands.

In 1975 the company sold Hydralique Gury S.A. to a group of French investors for $2.1 million.

By 1985, Applied Power's 75th year in business, the company had become a solid operation closely held by the members of its founding family.

At the end of 1987, Applied Power reported a loss of $1.6 million.

Such previous successes helped Applied Power notch sales of $245 million in 1989, up from $100 million just four years earlier.

These developments followed a year of lackluster results in 1991, when earnings fell to $12 million, hurt by the overall high costs of absorbing the Barry Wright operations and by a general recession.

Applied Power next acquired VERO Group plc in June 1998 for $191.7 million (fending off a competing bid by Pentair, Inc.) and ZERO Corporation the following month in a merger valued at $386 million.