Eaton To Buy Part Of MGE UPS Business

June 29, 2007
Eaton Corp., Cleveland, agreed to acquire the small systems business of Schneider Electric’s MGE UPS Systems for $570 million. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter.

Eaton Corp., Cleveland, agreed to acquire the small systems business of Schneider Electric’s MGE UPS Systems for $570 million. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter.

MGE’s small systems business employs approximately 600 people worldwide and is a global provider of power quality solutions designed to increase the availability and uptime of mission-critical applications and processes. Its products include uninterruptible power systems (UPS), power distribution units, static transfer switches and surge suppressors. The business is headquartered in Saint-Ismier, France.

“The addition of MGE’s products will bring us valuable technology to fill product gaps in our UPS single-phase portfolio,” said Randy W. Carson, Eaton senior vice president and president - Electrical Group. “In addition, MGE’s presence in more than 40 countries will provide us with access to new markets and important distribution channels and will further establish our manufacturing presence in regions like China. This transaction clearly underlines Eaton’s stated strategic focus to expand our Power Quality business globally.”

For the 12-month period ending May 31, 2007, the small systems business of MGE had sales of approximately $218 million and EBITDA of approximately $52 million.

Eaton had 2006 sales of $12.4 billion and has 61,000 employees in more than 125 countries.

Schneider Electric, with $18.4 billion in worldwide sales, has 112,000 employees and operations in 190 countries.