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The eBearing News
October 14, 2003



NN Acquires KLF Rolling Elements Business
copyright © 2003 eBearing Inc.

NN, Inc. (USA) has signed an agreement to purchase the rolling element manufacturing operations of Kinex-KLF (Slovak Republic, a division of HTC Holding a.s.) for € 1.7 million (USD $1.9 million).

Kinex-KLF, in Kysucke Nove Mesto, is the largest producer of radial single-row deep groove ball bearings and radial single row cylindrical bearings in the Slovak Republic. Its rolling element manufacturing operations are under the KLF brand while the finished bearings it produces are sold under the Kinex and ZVL brands.

NN is a key worldwide supplier of bearing balls and rollers, with manufacturing operations in several countries. The company also produces bearing retainers and seals. 2002 sales were $192 million.

In 2002, Kinex was honored with several awards, including, "Best Exporter of the Slovak Republic in 2001." In 2000, Kinex had the largest sales gain of any non-financial company in the Slovak Republic after it acquired the bearing manufacturing operations of ZVL Skalaca a.s. In 2001, Kinex sales grew another 44% when it acquired the former KLF-ZVL a.s.

• article: Kinex wins Slovak accolades

HTC Holding, the parent company, was founded in 1989 and has purchased controlling shares in many of the Slovak Republic's manufacturing businesses as they have been privatized in recent years. HTC currently holds 13 companies in its portfolio, virtually all involved in basic manufacturing.

Slovakia is set to officially join the World Trade Organization in 2004, and the 2004 Bearing Conference and Fair is also set for Bratislava in mid-May, with factory tours of Kinex-ZKL scheduled.

• Bearing Conference 2004 website

KLF, the rolling element manufacturing part of the Kinex-KLF business being spun off to NN, produces both balls and rollers.

Balls are produced in millimeter dimension from 3.175mm through 45mm. Inch dimension balls are produced in 1/8" through 15/16" sizes. All balls are ISO 3290, in grade 10 through 100.

Rollers are currently manufactured in styles from straight roller to barrel roller, in sizes from 5mm x 10mm through 48mm x 48mm. Rollers are Class II and Class III, at 60-65 Rockwell C.

The KLF acquisition will be rolled into a new company, with production expected to begin in early 2004. The new company will operate as a division of NN Euroball ApS, and is expected to have first year sales in the range of $2.0 to $3.0 million.

NN Chairman and CEO, Rock Baty, said, "The formation of this company in Eastern Europe is consistent with our efforts to further expand our geographic manufacturing base. Our Slovakian operation will allow us to better serve our worldwide bearing customers, many of whom have already established Eastern European operations. We believe this operation will provide new opportunities for NN to create value for our customers. As a result, we are optimistic regarding the long-term growth prospects for our newest facility."

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- by Bruce A. Carr
from individual research,
tips and commercial sources.
Copyrighted material; unauthorized reproduction prohibited.


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Entire contents Copyright © 1999-2010, eBearing Inc. All rights reserved.
eBearing.com and "... for everything that moves" are registered trademarks of eBearing Inc.