Merger scoops up 30-year-old Ashland firm

From left: Jim Smith, Hanover Controls vice president of sales; Frank Flippo, president of Hanover Controls; Joe Miceli, CEO of Airline Hydraulics Corp.; and Saunders Hedberg, Retired owner of Hanover Controls. Photo courtesy of Airline Hydraulics Corp.

From left: Hanover Controls co-owners Jim Smith and Frank Flippo; Joe Miceli, CEO of Airline Hydraulics Corp.; and Saunders Hedberg, former owner of Hanover Controls. Photo courtesy of Airline Hydraulics Corp.

The local M&A market’s 2015 hot streak continues, this time with a deal in Ashland.

Hanover Controls & Supply, an industrial company that sells and distributes electronic control and automation systems, was acquired last week by Philadelphia-based Airline Hydraulics Corp. The deal was finalized Jan. 30.

Specific financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Airline Hydraulics CEO Joe Miceli said the company purchased all of Hanover Controls’ stock from its longtime co-owners, Jim Smith and Frank Flippo, and Saunders Hedberg, who retired from the company late last year.

Hanover Controls has been in business for about 30 years.

Flippo and Smith, who referred to Miceli for comment on the deal, will continue working with the company, each in the role of vice president of sales. Its other three employees are also staying on board.

“Our plans are to continue to invest and grow the business,” Miceli said.

Airline Hydraulics designs, manufactures and installs equipment for a variety of industrial companies. Its client list includes industrial giants such as General Electric and Merck & Co., Miceli said.

“We do business with pretty much every industrial segment there is,” he said.

The company has previously expanded through three acquisitions but hadn’t made it farther south than Baltimore.

“We’ve been looking to grow the company and looking for either businesses that will provide us with additional products, additional capabilities or potentially additional geographic reach,” Miceli said. “This was kind of the next natural extension.”

The sale of Hanover Controls is at least the eighth local merger or acquisition to either close or be announced since the start of the new year.

The year’s biggest deals so far include the $275 million acquisition of a local bank, a massive merger involving a Fortune 500 and local financial firm’s pending sale to Nasdaq for $225 million.

Smaller deals in the area have involved a range of industries, including frozen yogurt companies and advertising agencies.

Miceli would not discuss revenue figures for either Hanover Controls or Airline Hydraulics.

With the addition of Hanover Controls, Miceli said Airline Hydraulics has 350 employees company-wide at 10 locations.

From left: Jim Smith, Hanover Controls vice president of sales; Frank Flippo, president of Hanover Controls; Joe Miceli, CEO of Airline Hydraulics Corp.; and Saunders Hedberg, Retired owner of Hanover Controls. Photo courtesy of Airline Hydraulics Corp.

From left: Hanover Controls co-owners Jim Smith and Frank Flippo; Joe Miceli, CEO of Airline Hydraulics Corp.; and Saunders Hedberg, former owner of Hanover Controls. Photo courtesy of Airline Hydraulics Corp.

The local M&A market’s 2015 hot streak continues, this time with a deal in Ashland.

Hanover Controls & Supply, an industrial company that sells and distributes electronic control and automation systems, was acquired last week by Philadelphia-based Airline Hydraulics Corp. The deal was finalized Jan. 30.

Specific financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Airline Hydraulics CEO Joe Miceli said the company purchased all of Hanover Controls’ stock from its longtime co-owners, Jim Smith and Frank Flippo, and Saunders Hedberg, who retired from the company late last year.

Hanover Controls has been in business for about 30 years.

Flippo and Smith, who referred to Miceli for comment on the deal, will continue working with the company, each in the role of vice president of sales. Its other three employees are also staying on board.

“Our plans are to continue to invest and grow the business,” Miceli said.

Airline Hydraulics designs, manufactures and installs equipment for a variety of industrial companies. Its client list includes industrial giants such as General Electric and Merck & Co., Miceli said.

“We do business with pretty much every industrial segment there is,” he said.

The company has previously expanded through three acquisitions but hadn’t made it farther south than Baltimore.

“We’ve been looking to grow the company and looking for either businesses that will provide us with additional products, additional capabilities or potentially additional geographic reach,” Miceli said. “This was kind of the next natural extension.”

The sale of Hanover Controls is at least the eighth local merger or acquisition to either close or be announced since the start of the new year.

The year’s biggest deals so far include the $275 million acquisition of a local bank, a massive merger involving a Fortune 500 and local financial firm’s pending sale to Nasdaq for $225 million.

Smaller deals in the area have involved a range of industries, including frozen yogurt companies and advertising agencies.

Miceli would not discuss revenue figures for either Hanover Controls or Airline Hydraulics.

With the addition of Hanover Controls, Miceli said Airline Hydraulics has 350 employees company-wide at 10 locations.

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Tim Vidra
Tim Vidra
9 years ago

Congrats Frank, Jim and Saunders on this news. I know the 3 of you have been working very hard throughout the years!

Best, Tim Vidra (former employee)