Manufacturer buys Peterson Inc.

Byline: Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

Astec Industries Inc., a publicly traded company with headquarters in Chattanooga, Tenn., has bought Peterson Inc. of Eugene.

Astec, which manufactures specialized equipment "for building and restoring the world's infrastructure," according to its Web site, announced that the final purchase price was $21.1 million, with the possibility of another $3 million to come, depending on Peterson's financial results for 2008 and 2009.

Astec also will retire $7 million of Peterson's outstanding debt and purchase the company's land and improvements for $7 million more.

An official at Peterson declined to discuss the transaction Friday afternoon, but referred questions to Stephen Anderson, Astec's investor relations director.

Astec became aware of Peterson "because some of our customers use Peterson equipment, and we realized that the machinery they made fit well with our line of products," Anderson said. "We approached them (about the purchase), and it took over a year - it was one of the longest courtships we've had in our family of companies."

Peterson will continue to operate in Eugene under the name Peterson Pacific Corp. It is Astec's intention "to retain the existing employee base," Anderson said. "A lot of financial buyers downsize companies they buy or outsource the work, but we try to maintain our companies as they are."

Peterson Pacific has 185 workers.

The company began in 1961 as Wilbur Peterson & Sons, a heavy construction company, according to its Web site. It expanded into manufacturing in 1982, specializing in land-clearing and construction machinery.

Astec's manufacturing operations include equipment for aggregate processing and mining, asphalt production, mobile asphalt paving, and underground boring, drilling and trenching.

The firm has 14 U.S. companies, as well as one in Canada and one in South Africa. The U.S. locations include three operations in Chattanooga in addition to the corporate headquarters, and sites in Eugene; Tacoma; Albuquerque; Yankton, S.D.; Mequon, Wis.; Sterling, Ill.; Loudon, Tenn.; and West Salem, Ohio.

Its revenues for the second quarter of 2007 were $226.4 million, an increase of 18.3 percent compared with the same period in 2006. International sales accounted for just under $70 million. The company reported net income for the quarter of $18.5 million, up 49 percent over the second quarter of 2006.

Astec Industries trades on the Nasdaq as ASTE.