Glacier Garlock Bearings Acquires Saver North America

Glacier Garlock Bearings (USA, a division of EnPro Industries, USA) has acquired Saver North America Inc. (USA).

Glacier, with sales of approximately $150 million, is the world's largest manufacturer of prelubricated and self-lubricating plain and polymer bearings. Glacier has manufacturing facilities in the United States, Germany, France, Slovakia and Brazil, and 22 operating units in 17 countries.

Under Goodrich, Glacier Garlock Bearings was made up of Garlock and the Glacier Industrial Bearing Division, acquired from Dana in May 2001. Glacier was rolled under Goodrich's Garlock self-lubricated polymer bearings business and renamed Glacier Garlock Bearings. It was spun off from Goodrich in mid-2002 as the key manufacturing component of the new EnPro Industries.

Established in 1997, Saver North America manufactures the Mega-Life self-lubricating composite bearing, along with a few composite sheet and tubing products. The company operates a 16,000 square foot manufacturing facility in South Bend, Indiana.

Saver's Mega-Life composite bearings are the primary market competitors for Glacier's Gar-Max line of composite bearings. Glacier said it intends to continue offering the Mega-Life bearings as they are incorporated into the Gar-Max line.

Mega-Life and Gar-Max bearings are filament-wound composite bearings with a self-lubricating inner surface backed with a high-strength, fiber-reinforced thermoset composite. Composite bearings are standard components for manufacturers involved in heavy industrial equipment, farm equipment, pneumatic and hydraulic cylinder manufacturers, as well as valve and actuator manufacturers. Essentially, composite bearings are ideal for high-load, low speed applications or where lubrication is difficult or costly.

Saver's South Bend plant will be closed and the equipment relocated to Glacier's Gar-Max production facility in Thorofare, New Jersey.

Bernd Fischer, VP/GM of Glacier Americas, said, "We are extremely excited about the potential of this acquisition to accelerate the growth of our business. The addition of the Saver manufacturing equipment and product line will enable us to continue to reduce our costs and expand our ability to offer additional design solutions to customers in existing and potential markets."




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