Crane Composites’ parent company reiterated its ongoing work to answer antitrust concerns over the sale of Crane Composites. In addition, the parent company noted strong profits to start the year for Crane Composites and its division.
Crane Co. reported first-quarter earnings Monday. In the report, Crane Co. said the Engineered Materials division, including Crane Composites, posted $10.3 million in first-quarter income. The total is more than double the $5 million in income reported in the first quarter of 2021.
Engineered Materials’ earnings per share in the first quarter of 2022 totaled 17 cents, nearly twice the 9 cents a share earned in the first quarter of 2021.
In May 2021, Crane Co. sold its Engineered Materials division to Grupo Verzatec S.A. de C.V. for $360 million. The division, including Crane Composites, manufactures fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) composite materials supplies to RV OEMs.
On March 17, 2022, Crane Co. announced the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit to block the sale. DOJ alleged the sale would harm competition in the production and sale of pebbled FRP panels used in restaurants, grocery stores, hospitals and convenience stores.
“Verzatec’s proposed acquisition of Crane is a brazen attempt to eliminate a rival and cement a monopoly in this market,” said Jonathan Kanter, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Acquisitions that create or entrench monopoly power are illegal and violate the Sherman and Clayton Acts. The proposed transaction would leave countless American businesses facing higher prices and reduced quality, choice and innovation for this important building material.”
In its earnings report, Crane Co. repeated language from a release issued after DOJ’s ruling.
“In the normal course, Crane expects to engage in a process to address the DOJ’s antitrust concerns regarding a minor overlap in a narrow range of material used in certain commercial building applications,” the company said.
