Unova to Purchase Tool Unit of Cincinnati Milacron

Unova Inc., maker of machine tools and automobile manufacturing systems, agreed to buy Cincinnati Milacron Inc.’s tool unit for $178 million in cash to expand its sales beyond the auto industry.

Beverly Hills-based Unova, which was spun off from Western Atlas Inc. last October, said the acquisition will add about $500 million in annual sales to its industrial automation systems unit, bringing the company’s total sales to nearly $2.5 billion in 1999.

The Cincinnati-based Milacron unit employs 2,400 people.

Unova said it doesn’t expect to cut any jobs after the Milacron purchase and will run the business as a separate division under its current management.

“This isn’t an acquisition for restructuring,” said Dirk Koerber, a Unova vice president.

Unova expects the purchase, which is expected to be completed in early October, to add as much as 10 cents a share to its 1999 earnings. It plans to finance the transaction initially with cash on hand and existing lines of credit.

Cincinnati Milacron plans to take a charge of $32 million, or 80 cents a diluted share, on the sale.

The sale would allow Cincinnati Milacron to focus on its plastics technologies and industrial products for metalworking, such as injection molding machines and precision grinding wheels.

The company plans to change its name to Milacron Inc. to avoid confusion in marketing.

Unova also has reached agreements to buy Cincinnati-based Goldcrown Machinery Inc. and Saline, Mich.-based R&B; Machine Tool Co. since its spinoff.

Unova stock fell 25 cents to close at $18.75 on the New York Stock Exchange; its shares have climbed 14% this year. Cincinnati Milacron shares rose 75 cents to close at $22.75, also on the NYSE.