Motion Industries, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Genuine Parts Company, has acquired Braas Company, effective October 3, 2016. Founded in 1961, the Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based Braas Company is a distributor of products and services for industrial automation and control. Braas has more than 150 employees and enjoys an automation leadership position throughout the Midwest and Southeastern United States, with five offices and three warehouses. The company specializes in pneumatics, motion control, industrial networking, machine safety, robotics and related industrial parts.
"After meeting with several potential buyers, we found a cultural fit with Motion Industries and are very pleased to become part of their team,” said Joe Schwartz, Braas CEO. “Becoming part of Motion assures that our employees will be well cared for in the future and that we will have the ability to continue to service our customers and represent our supplier partners in the way which they are accustomed. At the same time, we’ll now have access to even greater capability and resources, enabling us to accelerate the growth of our already successful business."
"We are very pleased about the addition of this well-established company, which will open up new opportunities for Motion Industries in the area of industrial plant floor automation," said Kevin Storer, Motion Industries' senior vice president of U.S. operations.
With annual sales of $4.8 billion, Motion Industries is an industrial parts distributor of bearings, mechanical power transmission, electrical and industrial automation, hydraulic and industrial hose, hydraulic and pneumatic components, industrial products, safety products and material handling. Motion Industries has over 550 operations including 15 distribution centers throughout North America and serves more than 150,000 customers from the food and beverage, pulp and paper, iron and steel, chemical, mining and aggregate, petrochemical, automotive, wood and lumber, and pharmaceutical industries.
