Pentair history

The partners incorporated as Pentair Industries, Inc. in August and completed an initial public offering in January 1967 to sustain their seriously undercapitalized business.

Although Westby did not formally join the company until May 1968, he had been in close contact with Harpole for some time and had accompanied the founder on a business trip to Wisconsin, to consider the purchase of then debt-ridden, privately owned Peavey Paper Mills, Inc.

In 1969, due to Pentair's new status as an acquisition-oriented, international corporation, company stock soared from $2 per share to $25 and a 3-for-1 split was declared.

The Peavey plant would be sold in 1976 because Pentair had outgrown it. It continued to expand in that area and acquired Niagara Paper in 1972.

Pentair signaled its arrival as a major corporation by declaring its first quarterly cash dividend in 1976.

Four years earlier the company had sustained a debt-to-equity ratio of greater than 7-to-1, but by 1979, after paying down debt with paper profits, it had more than reversed these numbers and gained some valuable banking partners in the process.

Unfortunately, the realization of the goal was postponed, largely due to a time-consuming battle against a takeover threat by Steak and Ale founder Peter Wray, an attempt that ended only after Pentair agreed to a $4.5 million settlement in early 1981.

In 1984 Pentair purchased the remains of the Power Tool Division from Rockwell.

In 1988, Pentair agreed to acquire FC Holdings Inc., the holding company for Federal Cartridge and Hoffman Engineering, for $175 million in cash and the assumption of debt.

But it would take until January 1994 for Buxton to find a suitable match.

Pentair bought reciprocating pump maker Aplex Industries, Inc. in January 1996 and made it a subsidiary of F.E. Myers.

In August 1997, Pentair acquired the General Signal Pump Group.

Also, in January 1998 Pentair purchased ORSCO, Inc., producer of precision oil dispensing systems.

In August 1999, Pentair bought the DeVilbiss Air Power Company for $460 million in cash.

In 2003 it was announced that negotiations had failed, and the Tupelo plant would close the following year.

Pentair has discontinued its Century/Lincoln and Lincoln Industrial service equipment operations. It also exited the tools business with the sale of its power tools group (which had previously accounted for 40% of sales) in October 2004 to Black & Decker for nearly $800 million.

In 2005, Pentair bought some of the assets of APW for $144 million, including McLean Thermal Management, Aspen Motion Technologies, and Electronic Solutions, all of which provide thermal management products and integration services to the telecom, medical, and security industries.

In 2006, Pentair purchased Germany-based Jung Pumpen GmbH, which makes pumps and other products for wastewater processing.

The deal was completed in early 2007 for $227 million.

In 2012, Pentair Inc. (PNR) and Tyco International Ltd. (TYC)’s flow control business formally combined to create Pentair Ltd.

In August 2016, Pentair announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell the Valves & Controls business to Emerson, an American diversified global industrial company based in St Louis, Missouri.