CFE Industries (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), after six months of secretive negotiations, has revealed it is in the process of acquiring Commercial Bearing Service (1966) Ltd. (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada).

Although an acquisition plan was first revealed to shareholders and the public on March 21, 2002, the company did not disclose the target until shareholders approved several initiatives. At the Annual General and Special Meeting, shareholders approved the acquisition of Commercial Bearing Service, a plan for financing the acquisition, a concurrent 5-for-1 reverse stock split, a new board of directors, and a new company name for the combined organization. All of these changes and provisions are dependent upon the successful acquisition of Commercial Bearing Service.

CFE Industries is publicly traded and was founded in 1993. The company manufactures and distributes various industrial products via two subsidiaries, CFE Equipment Inc. and CFE Manufacturing Inc.

CFE operates seven divisions targeting their specific markets: Forestry Division (CFE Technology), Mining Division (Neville Crosby), Arborculture Division, Drafting and Media Division, Environmental Science Division, Dealer Division (Norpac), and the Security and Enforcement Division.

Commercial Bearing Service (1966) Ltd., was originally founded in 1954 as an Edmonton bearing distributor. Today, the company supplies bearings, seals, power transmission products and industrial and safety supplies to every industry in western Canada. Throughout Alberta and Saskatchewan, there are now 18 branch locations.

Commercial Bearing Service offers a wide product coverage in bearings from every major manufacturer, including FAG, INA, NSK, SKF, Timken and Torrington.

Other than management's comment that it has not yet been formally completed, no other details (timing, price, new company name, and so on) have been made available.