The Pohlad family has acquired Shoreview-based PaR Systems, a growing manufacturer of robotic-automation and materials-handling equipment that employs 380 people.
Pohlad family buys robotics manufacturer PaR Systems
PaR built systems to help with Chernobyl decommissioning and Fukushima nuclear crisis.
November 2, 2017 at 12:34AM
Bob Pohlad, an executive of the family-owned company, declined to specify what the family paid British private-equity firm MML Capital Partners for the profitable company. PaR has sales of about $130 million a year.
"We want to invest in companies that make a difference now and in the future," Bob Pohlad said. "PaR is already a big business doing important things in automation and finding solutions for different customers. That covers everything from big cranes to small equipment for the life-science industry."
PaR, founded in 1961, serves the aerospace, medical device, marine, defense and other industrial markets. PaR created a robotic application with cranes to facilitate the handling and decommissioning of the Chernobyl Unit 4 nuclear reactor decades after the catastrophic 1986 nuclear accident in Ukraine.
PaR undertook a similar project at the Fukushima nuclear site disabled by a 2011 earthquake in Japan.
On the smaller side PaR works with medical device manufacturers by designing and building automation equipment for the manufacture of tiny, implantable products.
Pohlad said the company is well managed, and the family expects to make investments so it can grow more.
The company provides further diversification for the family's holdings.
The late Carl Pohlad, starting in the 1950s, built a Midwestern banking and bottling business that made him a billionaire.
Over the years, the original businesses were sold.
The family patriarch bought the Minnesota Twins in 1984. Besides the Major League Baseball franchise, the family now owns United Properties, NorthMarq Capital and Carousel Motor Group of automotive dealers, as well as broadcasting and jewelry concerns.
PaR CEO Mark Wrightsman said the acquisition will allow the company to achieve its long-term vision.
"It has become clear to the senior team at PaR that the Pohlad family has the same high expectations and values as the people at PaR," Wrightsman said in a statement.
The majority of PaR's 380 employees are based in Shoreview and Oakdale in Minnesota, along with Brunswick, Ga. The company operates eight global sales, engineering, service and manufacturing centers around the world.
Neal St. Anthony • 612-673-7144
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