Dover history

Dover's purchase of the Shepard Warner Elevator Company in 1958 marked the beginning of an effort to grow the elevator business.

In 1961 Dover bought Cincinnati, Ohio-based OPW, the leading United States maker of service station nozzles and other hazardous fluid handling equipment.

In 1962, Dover made two notable acquisitions: Detroit Stamping Company, now DE-STA-CO, specializing in the design and manufacturing of clamping, gripping, transferring, and robotic tooling; and Alberta Oil Tool, subsequently part of Dover Artificial Lift before its separation from Dover Corp.

The purchase of Hunter-Hayes Elevator Company and Reddy Elevator Company in 1964 solidified Dover’s position in that industry.

Dover’s 1966 acquisition of Turnbull, however, was not executed as seamlessly.

Reece had joined the company in 1968 when it acquired Ronningen-Petter, of which he was marketing manager.

In 1975 Dover acquired Dieterich Standard Corporation, a Denver, Colorado-based manufacturer of liquid-measurement instruments.

The other three original companies were Rotary Lift, a manufacturer of automotive lifts; W. C. Norris, a maker of sucker rods for oil-well pumping; and Peerless, which was sold in 1977.

In July 1979 Dover acquired Universal Instruments Corporation of Binghamton, New York.

By 1980 the electronics market had become the second most important growth area for Dover, following petroleum-production products.

Later, Roubos became Dover's chief executive officer (CEO) in 1981.

Another significant acquisition included Sargent Industries, a manufacturer of control devices for aerospace and industrial end-markets, purchased in 1984 for $68 million.

The sectors created in 1985 reflected the principal areas of market activity.

Beginning in 1988, Nurad was also the subject of a criminal investigation of its activities as a government contractor.

In 1989 Dover again revised its structure, into six sectors, to reflect shifts in market activity.

During 1991 Dover took charges totaling $37.3 million to sell or liquidate several underperforming businesses and to increase its insurance reserves for general liability and worker's compensation claims.

In May 1993 Thomas L. Reece was named president and chief operating officer of Dover; one year later he became president and CEO, with Roubos remaining chairman.

That same year, Dover acquired Phoenix Refrigeration Systems, which then acquired Hill Refrigeration in 1994 to form Hillphoenix.

In September 1995 Dover paid $200 million for an 88 percent interest in Valance, France-based Imaje, S.A., one of the world's three largest manufacturers of industrial continuous ink-jet printers and specialized inks.

Dover made ten more acquisitions in 1996, with an aggregate price of $281.7 million.

Also in 1997 Dover divested its European elevator operations.

Dover could also be expected to use some of its cash to pay down its burgeoning debt, which ballooned to $610.1 million in 1998, thanks to the record acquisition activity.

Ultimately, Dover sold its elevator business in 1999 to Thyssen AG for $1.1 billion.

Dover sold eight companies in 2001 for a total of $400 million.

Ronald Hoffman took over as CEO in 2005 while Reece remained chairman.

Alva, Marilyn, "No Matter the Business, Conglomerate Keeps Standards the Same," Investor's Business Daily, July 11, 2006.

In fact, management set plans in motion to sell 20 companies by 2007.

In 2008, Robert Livingston was appointed Dover's new CEO and president.

Inpro/Seal, a producer of bearing isolators, was purchased by Waukesha Bearings Corporation in 2009, which included 150,991 shares of Dover's common stock being issued to Inpro/Seal shareholders.

In 2010, KMC Inc. and Bearings Plus Inc. were acquired by Waukesha Bearings Corporation with the expectation of synergizing their bearing seal technologies with Dover.

In 2011, Dover expanded its acoustic components business with the purchase of Sound Solutions, a manufacturer of dynamic speakers and receivers for mobile phones and other consumer electronics, for $855 million.

Dover continued to grow its refrigeration business with the 2012 purchase of Anthony International for $602.5 million.

In 2014, Dover spun off Knowles, which had a $2.6 billion market cap post-spin.

In 2015, Dover sold Sargent Aerospace & Defense to RBC Bearings.

In May 2018, Richard J. Tobin took over as president and CEO of Dover, after previously serving as the company's director.