David Brown, one of the world’s leading providers of industrial gearing solutions and support services, is delighted to announce it has acquired Montreal-based industrial gear manufacturer Unigear Industries, Inc. Unigear is a privately held business that is renowned for its high quality gearing solutions. With its outstanding flexibility, innovation, quality, and performance it has an excellent reputation for customer responsiveness and a high standard of customer service in the North American gearing market.
David Brown already has a presence in key markets in North America, such as mining and oil and gas, as well as through its premier double-enveloping worm gearing business Cone Drive, based in Traverse City, Michigan. The acquisition of Unigear and its industrial gear manufacturing and service capability is a key part of David Brown’s global and North American growth strategy. The business will be brought under the David Brown umbrella and will trade under the name Unigear-a David Brown Company. The Unigear team—including Ron Mehra, president, and Peter Zurcher, vice president—will remain with the company and play key leadership roles in the company going forward.
David Brown has a clear vision for the future and a defined growth strategy developed around expanding in key global markets including mining, oil and gas, conventional power, rail, and renewable energy such as solar, wind, and hydro. The acquisition of Unigear provides David Brown with wider access to many of these strategic industry segments coupled with local capability to manufacture and service industrial gear products for the North American market.
Expanding its aftermarket service offering is integral to David Brown’s strategy to provide customers with locally employed specialist teams delivering a world-class service. As well as becoming David Brown’s North American manufacturing center of excellence, David Brown will also establish a service center at its Montreal facility to support customers in Canada. Additionally, the business is planning further expansion through the opening of a service center in the mining region of Kentucky, with near term plans for the establishment of additional service centers in strategic locations across North America.
“We are delighted to have acquired Unigear, it is a very successful business that we want to further grow and develop,” according to John Paterson, CEO of David Brown. “It is a perfect strategic fit for David Brown with its combination of customer relationships, experience, skills and precision gear manufacturing equipment. David Brown is a global leader in gearing solutions and the acquisition of such a strong and well developed business as Unigear further strengthens our capabilities through the addition of complementary industrial gear manufacture and service capability in North America. We are already active in North America however, this enables us to make a much more compelling offer to our customers in the region. We are looking forward to working closely with Ron, Peter, and the team and building a strong and prosperous future together.”
“This is a fantastic opportunity for the business,” Mehra says. “I am delighted we are becoming part of a global business and a North American team which has many of the same values as Unigear. We are excited about growing our businesses together. Between us we have more than 260 years of gearing expertise. We all understand that while the industries we serve continue to grow and change, so too must we through the specialized services we offer them and a flexible approach. Together we will continue to promote that commitment to excellence.” Learn more at www.davidbrown.com.
