Motion Industries Acquires Braas Company

Motion Industries, Inc. (Birmingham, AL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Genuine Parts Company (Atlanta, GA), recently announced they have acquired Braas Company (Eden Prairie, MN), a leading distributor of products and services for industrial automation and control that was founded in 1961 and is now an employee-owned company with more than 150 employees.

Braas enjoys a strong automation leadership position throughout the Midwest and Southeastern U.S. with five offices and three warehouses that specialize in pneumatics, motion control, industrial networking, machine safety, robotics and related industrial parts. They also have a strong reputation in the market as a solutions provider that is supported by a team of experienced application engineers to assist customers from concept to equipment installation, providing productivity improvements across the plant floor.

“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, the chief executive officer of Braas, commenting about the acquisition. “Becoming part of their organization 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 will 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 us in the area of industrial plant floor automation,” noted Kevin Storer, the senior vice president of U.S. operations for Motion Industries.

“We welcome all Braas Company employees to our family and we look forward to the contributions they will make in upcoming years,” added Tim Breen, the president and chief executive officer of Motion Industries.

www.motionindustries.com, www.braasco.com