Toro to Purchase Hardie Irrigation

In a deal likely to lead to layoffs at its corporate headquarters in Laguna Niguel, James Hardie Irrigation Group has agreed to be acquired by Minnesota-based lawn products concern Toro Co.

The $130-million acquisition of Hardie, a maker of garden sprinklers, valves and timers, will double the size of Toro’s irrigation group to about $280 million in annual sales.

The transaction would also add a strong line of moderately priced residential and commercial irrigation products to Toro’s current lineup of high-end sprinklers for the residential and golf course markets. Hardie products carry the Lawn Genie and Richdel labels.

Officials at Hardie declined to comment on the sale or its impact on employees. But a Toro spokesman said layoffs are likely because there will be duplications in sales, marketing and administrative areas after the acquisition. Toro has one, 700-employee irrigation business, which is in Riverside.

No decisions, however, have been made about the number of people to be let go or whether layoffs would affect one or both of the companies. “We are still studying all of this,” said Toro spokesman Donald St. Dennis.

Toro is operating at capacity in Riverside--its only plant--and wants Hardie’s manufacturing facilities. So it is not likely to close Hardie’s Laguna Niguel plant, where 142 people now work, he said.

In all, Hardie Irrigation employs about 1,100 people. Other facilities are in El Cajon; El Paso, Texas; Sanford, Fla.; and Murray Bridge and Springvale, Australia.

The company is a unit of James Hardie Industries, an Australian building products company that has been involved in the irrigation business since 1978. Hardie entered the U.S. irrigation market in 1991 when it acquired Black and Decker Corp.’s irrigation products division.

A separate business in Mission Viejo, James Hardie Building Materials, is not involved in the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval.

Toro, which is based in Bloomington, Minn., also makes lawn mowers and snow blowers. Corporate revenue last year was just under $920 million. Toro common stock closed at $33.75, down 12.5 cents per share, on the New York Stock Exchange.