Family Buys Hanson Claim on Cummins

Members of Cummins Engine Co.’s founding family paid $72 million for Hanson PLC’s holdings in the company, ending speculation that the British conglomerate might try to take over the diesel-engine maker, officials said Monday.

The family members then exchanged the shares with Cummins for $67 million in notes, the officials said.

Hanson Industries, the American arm of Hanson, maintained all along that its purchase of 9.79% of Cummins stock was for investment purposes only.

J. Irwin Miller, a Cummins director and former chief executive officer, and his sister, Clementine M. Tangeman, bought Hanson’s 1.043-million-share holding of Cummins common stock Friday.

“We are taking advantage of a situation that developed,” Hanson spokeswoman Karen Levy said Monday from the company’s Saddle Brook, N.J., office.

Miller said the purchase reflected the family’s confidence in the future of Cummins, a worldwide producer of diesel engines, components and power systems.

Cummins was founded in 1919 by Will Irwin, the great uncle of Miller and Tangeman, and by their grandmother, Linnie Sweeney.

“Five generations of my family were born here,” Tangeman said. “I am interested in the long-term health of the company and in having the company headquartered in Columbus thriving and independent.”

Miller said his family first approached Hanson about buying the shares about two weeks ago. The deal firmed up last week but was contingent on Friday’s closing price of $64.50 a share, officials said.

With the $72-million purchase, Miller and Tangeman took a $5-million loss on the stock’s market value.