Family-owned Industrial Scientific eyes growth under new parent
Company employs 400 in Robinson
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Justin McElhattan, president of Industrial Scientific Corp., which makes highly technical products and equipment to improve worker safety in mines and other manufacturing settings, is blunt when he describes the Robinson company’s mission.
“We dedicate our careers to eliminating death on the job by 2050,” he said. “That’s our vision and we take that very, very seriously.”
But in the last year or so, the family-owned Robinson company began to feel it couldn’t achieve its goal because it needed more investment capital and expertise to expand.
“It became apparent that being a private, family-held company might not be the best solution for us moving forward to chase our vision,” said Mr. McElhattan, 45, and a member of the third generation of McElhattans to run the business.
So early this year, Industrial Scientific went in search of a buyer and found an eager partner in Fortive Corp., a much larger industrial equipment maker based in Everett, Wash.
The companies late Thursday said they reached a deal for Fortive to acquire Industrial Scientific for an undisclosed price by the end of the year. Investment banking firms Raptor Partners of the North Side, and Citigroup Global Markets advised Industrial Scientific on the deal.
Fortive is “an excellent company whose values resonate with ours,” Mr. McElhattan said in an interview Friday.
As an independent operating company within Fortive’s portfolio of businesses, “We will have world-class merger and acquisition prowess and talent,” said Mr. McElhattan, who will remain president and chief executive.
Industrial Scientific’s 700 employees worldwide, including about 400 at its Robinson headquarters, are all expected to join Fortive’s global workforce of approximately 24,000.
Fortive generated $6.2 billion in sales last year; Industrial Scientific’s revenues were about $160 million.
“We’ve been aware of Industrial Scientific in the marketplace for some years,” said Wes Pringle, Fortive’s senior vice president of field solutions.
Besides its product line including iNet — a technical system used to remotely monitor safety conditions for workers — Fortive was impressed by Industrial Scientific’s “culture, caliber and the fit their leadership group would have within our organization,”Mr. Pringle said.
Mr. McElhattan’s father, Kent, and his grandfather, Kenton, founded the business in 1985 after acquiring the safety division of National Mine Service Co. and changing its name.
Kent McElhattan, 67, is chairman of Industrial Scientific and was chief executive from 1985 until 2010. Kenton McElhattan will turn 95 years old next week.
His grandson, the current president, said that while there will always be “a degree of pride” in operating a familyowned company, “At the end of the day, the emotional side of that is dramatically outweighed by what we are going to do within Fortive.”