6/9/2015 12:42:00 PM
HEADLINES
Fastenal Co. Acquires Cardinal Fastener
Weeks after Würth Group announced the closing of Cardinal Fastener in Ohio, Fastenal Co. acquired 100% of Cardinal Fastener assets, including equipment.
In January, Würth announced that the Cardinal Fastener plant in Ohio, which opened in 1983 and was acquired by the Würth in 2011, would be closed and production shifted to Würth’s Dokka Fasteners plant in Michigan.
“Unfortunately, having two separate plants with similar capabilities located so close together became increasingly difficult to justify,” Würth executive VP Marc Strandquist explained in January.
In the ensuing weeks, Fastenal contacted Dokka Fasteners about buying Cardinal, Strandquist told FIN. The deal was completed in March.
“We purchased 100% of the assets related to Cardinal Fastener,” Cory Jansen of Fastenal told FIN.
Fastenal manufactures complex machined parts, high-volume production fasteners, large-diameter bolts and complete stud assemblies.
“Through our nine global manufacturing locations, we produce more than 70,000 jobs per year — each one a solution for a customer in need,” according to Fastenal’s website.
Fastenal operates U.S. manufacturing facilities in Winona, MN; Wallingford, CT; Indianapolis, IN; Loves Park, IL; Houston, TX; and Modesto, CA. The company also manufactures fasteners in Joinville, Brazil; Modrice, Czech Republic; and Nusajaya, Malaysia.
Cardinal received worldwide publicity for its wind energy fastener manufacturing when then President-elect Barack Obama toured the plant en route to his 2009 inauguration. It is believed to be the only presidential visit to a fastener plant. Obama touted Cardinal’s domestic manufacturing of wind energy industry fasteners. (For the story click on Fastener History: 2009 FIN – Wind Turbine Fasteners Create Draw for Industry’s First Presidential Plant Tour.)
The media exposure vaulted then-CEO John Grabner into the national business spotlight. For months after the visit, Grabner appeared on TV broadcasts to discuss renewable energy opportunities and lean manufacturing.
The presidential visit was also good for business, helping Cardinal to nearly double its revenues with wind energy fasteners by supplying more than a dozen wind turbine builders, including the Danish wind manufacturer Vestas and the Spanish Gamesa SA.
But Cardinal struggled to make the necessary investments for growth in the wind energy industry, and had to file for bankruptcy on June 30, 2011. The Chapter 11 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Cleveland showed Cardinal had been borrowing heavily and was millions of dollars in debt.
Würth acquired Cardinal out of bankruptcy in 2011. Web: fastenal.com
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