ITT to Headquarter New Group in Fountain Valley

ITT Corp. Thursday said it will consolidate its Fountain Valley based-ITT Cannon subsidiary with other domestic and European units, in an effort to capture a larger share of the U.S. market for electrical switches and relays.

The group will have estimated 1986 revenues of more than $500 million, according to the New York-based telecommunications giant.

The new ITT Electromechanical Components Group will include Schadow-U.S. of Eden Prairie, Minn.; ITT Pomona Electronics, of Pomona; Jeanrenaud, Isotat, MTI and SFC in France; SIE Componentes Electronicos in Spain; SKN and Rudolf Schadow GmbH in Germany; ITT Switches UK Ltd. and STR Relays in Switzerland.

Although the new group will be headquartered in Fountain Valley, operations of the individual companies remain unchanged. No increase in ITT’s Orange County employment is expected, said Heinz Juenthner , general manager of ITT Electromechanical Components International.

ITT’s foreign subsidiaries dominate about a quarter of the European market for electrical switches and relays, used in a variety of applications. However, the company’s share of the U.S. market is a more modest 5% to 7%, he said.

By combining marketing and distribution, Juenthner said, ITT plans to boost its sales of switches and relays in the U.S. market. Initially, the foreign units will export product to the United States, but as ITT’s domestic market share increases, U.S. production will be stepped up, he said.