Manufacturer Crane to split into 2 companies

STAMFORD — Crane Co., an industrial-products manufacturer that ranked No. 757 on last year’s Fortune list of the highestrevenue firms, announced Wednesday a plan to split into two independent, publicly traded companies — but it would maintain a significant presence in Stamford.

The separation would result in a company that would still bear the Crane Co. name and remain headquartered in Stamford. It would include Crane’s Aerospace & Electronics and Process Flow Technologies businesses.

Chief Executive Officer and President Max Mitchell would lead the new Crane Co., while the chief financial officer, Rich Maue, would continue in that role. The company plans to remain listed on the NYSE exchange under its current ticker symbol, “CR.”

Crane’s split would also create Crane NXT, which would comprise the company’s Payment and Merchandising Technologies business. It would be headquartered in Mount Prospect, Ill., with a satellite office in Stamford.

“This announcement marks a major milestone in the evolution of Crane Co. For decades, we have delivered consistent and differentiated execution, strengthening our business through organic growth and value-creating acquisitions,” Mitchell said in a statement. “Having achieved the scale to operate as two market-leading, separate companies, we believe this transaction will unlock substantial value for our shareholders, as each company attracts an investor base tailored to its respective financial and growth profile.”

Today, Crane is headquartered at 100 First Stamford Place, a couple of blocks from the downtown Stamford Metro-North Railroad station. It employs about 11,000 people across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.

“Given the need to staff both post-separation companies with fully independent corporate teams and public company infrastructure, we expect the number of roles based in Stamford across the two companies to be higher than our current level,” Crane said in a statement in response to a Hearst Connecticut Media inquiry about how the split would affect employment. The statement did not specify the current number of Stamford-based employees.

The separation is expected to be completed within approximately the next 12 months, “subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions and final approval of the separation by Crane Co.’s Board of Directors,” Crane said in its announcement. It added that shareholder approval was not required.

Before Wednesday’s announcement, Crane was already pursuing major changes. Last May, it announced it had signed an agreement to divest its other main business, Engineered Materials. But the Department of Justice filed on March 17 a civil lawsuit to stop the transaction. DOJ alleges that the proposed $360 million sale to Grupo Verzatec would harm competition in the production and sale of pebbled-fiberglass reinforced plastic wall panels, which are used by enterprises such as hospitals, restaurants, grocery stores and convenience stores.

“In the normal course, the company expects to engage in a process with Verzatec, the DOJ and /or the courts to address the DOJ’s antitrust concerns regarding a minor overlap in a narrow range of material used in certain commercial building applications,” Crane said a statement on March 17.

Among other major deals in recent years, Crane acquired Crane Currency, the Boston-based banknote supplier to the U.S. Treasury, for $800 million in 2018. The name shared by the two companies was a coincidence; they did not have a connection before making the deal.

In 2021, Crane recorded revenues of about $3.2 billion, up 15 percent year over year. It recorded an annual profit of about $435 million, compared with

$181 million in 2020.

This year, Aerospace & Electronics and Process Flow Technologies businesses are expected to generate approximately $1.9 billion in sales, while Payment and Merchandising Technologies are expected to produce approximately $1.4 billion in sales.

Founded in 1855, Crane is the second Connecticutheadquartered Fortune 1,000 firm this year to announce that it would divide its operations. Earlier this month, Greenwich-based XPO Logistics, No. 190 on last year’s list, announced it would spin off its truckbrokerage business into its own publicly traded firm.

Crane shares closed Wednesday at about $110, nearly flat compared with their closing total on Tuesday.