Nordson to sell screws and barrels product line to Altair Investments

Precision dispensing equipment maker Nordson Corp. is selling its screws and barrels product line from its polymer processing systems (PPS) division to Chicago-based private investment firm Altair Investments Inc.

In a Dec. 3 statement, Westlake, Ohio-based Nordson said that its screws and barrels product line “is a respected market leader in the polymer processing industry” but “no longer fits [our] strategic focus…We believe it will do well with Altair.”

“This strategic portfolio transaction will improve the company’s ongoing earnings and require a one-time, non-cash asset impairment charge of approximately US$87 million,” Nordson Corp. executive vice president and chief financial officer Joseph Kelley said in the statement. “This action underscores our commitment to align and focus our resources with the best strategic opportunities for long-term profitable growth.”

Generating over US$70 million in annual revenue with 500 employees, the product line has been reported in Nordson’s Industrial Precision Solutions segment.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of fiscal 2021.