Sandusky International seals deal with buyer MetalTek

Sandusky International has been sold.Wisconsin-based MetalTek International completed a deal to purchase the downtown foundry on Friday, officials from both sides said.The move creates "the very real possibility" to bring more jobs to the city, said Ed Ryan, Sandusky International's president.Executives at MetalTek feel the same way."Our 50-person international sales team will help Sandusky International reach a lot of new markets," said Robert Smickley, MetalTek's CEO."We see a lot of room for growth here," MetalTek president E.J. Kubick said.Both companies called it a win-win.MetalTek International has workers and expertise in aerospace, defense, food processing, mining and other industries, so it'll expose Sandusky International to new clientele.MetalTek also has thousands of customers in more than 30 countries.In return, it will have access to Sandusky International's machinery, which can produce larger products than MetalTek ever made, Ryan said.With its current equipment, MetalTek can only build products that weigh up to 30,000 pounds.Sandusky International's equipment will allow it to build machinery up to 130,000 pounds, Ryan said."We are very excited to have assembled what we believe is the most powerful force in centrifugal casting throughout the world," Smickley said.The two companies did not disclose a sale price, keeping with MetalTek's policy as a privately held company, Smickley said.Sandusky International went up for sale in January and the two companies began negotiations in April.MetalTek has factories in the U.S. and Europe and employs 850 people.Sandusky International employs about 100 people at its local facility and about 50 at a facility in Scotland.The sale could help rejuvenate the 106-year-old foundry, which once employed more than 300 workers in its 300,000-square-foot plant on West Market Street.Sandusky International hit a rough patch in recent years as the economy and manufacturing industry struggled. In 2009, its volume was almost three times less than volume at its peak, Ryan said earlier this year.The foundry's workers are optimistic MetalTek will help change that trend."Everybody's excited," said Brian Holzaepfel, Sandusky International's director of operations. "Everybody's got a pretty good feeling about this."MetalTek officials don't have a timeline for when Sandusky International might expand.Because the sale was just completed, MetalTek's crews need to get into the factory before they design a gameplan to help both companies grow.But MetalTek has done this before.The company purchased Air-Oil Systems of Pennsylvania in October, and will complete another purchase on Dec. 20, Smickley said.Because the deal isn't completed, Smickley couldn't disclose the name of the soon-to-be purchased company.In total, MetalTek has five manufacturing sites spread across Wisconsin, Missouri, Tennessee and the United Kingdom."We're a growth-oriented company," Smickley said.